Family
by Ophiali
Summary: Family is not made by just blood. It's made of the sweat of working together, of the adversity overcome together, and of the peace celebrated together. The friends you keep create the family you make. Your family, forever.
1. Chapter 1

Soul Eater: Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: Ahahahaaa... I'm pretty bad at coming up with new ideas... Er, well not bad, but I should be working on my other stories... Oh well... Anyway, I just finished watching episode 30 of the anime, and I thought about how Black Star got all pissed off that Maka was under Arachne's spell and went to get revenge. This is NOT a Maka/Black Star fic (Soul/Maka is my OTP) but this is more about their friendship.

Enjoy!

* * *

"But Maka-"

"It's okay. Really!"

Black Star's teeth clenched as Maka stood and dusted off the back of her skirt, Soul already busy checking the scraps on her palms with silence. She smiled sweetly at her weapon, before craning her neck to give Black Star the same treatment, "See? I'm fine." He wanted to disagree with her, and go beat up the kid that pushed her anyway, but he didn't feel right betraying that smile of hers.

He lowered his head and kicked at a loose stone, "Whatever." She just answered with a giggle as she let Soul drag her by the wrist to the infirmary to get dissinfectant for her palms. Black Star and Tsubaki followed along behind, the three of them - Soul, Maka, and Tsubaki - reverted back to the conversation they'd been in prior to the confrontation. He shoved his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders, still angry that Maka wouldn't let him kick the kid's ass.

It wasn't like he was Soul. He couldn't silently take care of her like the scythe weapon did. Little things like catching her when she fell, helping her up, holding her hand when she was scared; they were all things that only Soul could do for her. He wasn't the silent and strong type. He was the loud, 'you mess with her, you mess with me' type. That's how he showed Maka that she was his important friend.

But if he couldn't do that for his important friend, than what good was he to her?

"So I'll leave her to you then, Black Star."

"Aaah?"

Tsubaki sighed, "Were you not listening again? Soul has to go talk to Shinigami-sama, and I need to go tell Professor Stein that Soul will be late, so you stay here to make sure Maka will be okay. Okay?"

The blonde rolled her eyes, "I just scraped my hands, I don't need an escort."

"Ah, I got it."

The duo entered the infirmary, Nygus directing her to a chair, "Want to tell me what happened?"

"Some dumb kid pushed Maka," Black Star bit out, grumbling and crossing his arms over his chest as Nygus sat down in front of Maka to spray dissinfectant on the girl's hands.

Maka sighed, "I'm sure it was an accident Black Star, so quite making a big deal about it."

He ignored her, puffing out his cheeks, "You should have let me kick his ass."

"It wasn't necessary."

"He pushed you!"

"It was an accident!"

The blue haired teen froze as Maka raised her voice, "Seriously, Black Star. It's okay. I'm fine. No harm done what so ever, so there's no need for you to get in trouble with the teachers _again_ on my part." She sighed, and sat down again, as she'd stood up when she'd yelled.

"What else am I supposed to do then?" Black Star shouted back, but Maka simply smiled gentely at him, making the ninja feel foolish.

"You don't have to do anything Black Star. I know you care, so it's okay."

"But-"

"Tsubaki told me."

Black Star's sentence died off, replaced with a confused, "Huh?"

"About your family. About what happened to your clan." Nygus finished putting bandages on Maka's hands, and the scythe meister stood up and started for the door, "That's why you act the way you do, right?" The ninja meister didn't answer, but followed her silently out into the hallway, "It must be really hard, trying to make people see you, instead of seeing what your family was." Her emerald eyes flattened a little, but was quickly replaced with their usual brightness, "But it's okay!"

"What do you mean?" the male asked, shoving his hands in his pocket and turning away from her.

"You're not alone, Black Star. We're all fighting against something, trying to make names for ourselves, trying to escape from the shadows of the ones before us, and expectations, " the blonde laced her fingers together in front of her as she walked, "That's why we can all relate so well, so... In a way..." she trailed off, and when Black Star looked over at her due to her sudden silence, her eyes were hidden under her bangs.

"Maka?" he pulled them to a stop and bent down to try and see her face, "Maka, you okay?"

"In a way..." slowly, she lifted her head back up until Black Star saw a brilliant smile adorning her face, "We're your family too!" Reaching forward, she grabbed his hands in hers, "That's why it's okay if you don't always voice that you care. Because we're all like one big family, so we already know." The girl's smile was infectious, and the two bolted down the hallway until they reached the classroom.

Black Star kicked the door open, and yelled in his most boisterous voice, "YO~! Black Star the Great has arrived!" The other students stared blankly at his outburts, a few rolled their eyes, and some snickered, but the boy's eyes were locked onto Liz sighing and telling Tsubaki she felt sorry for her, who laughed, and Patti who was busy clapping her hands - "Yay yay! Black Star is here!" - and Kid, who was shaking his head with an amused laugh.

He felt a hand clap his back, and turned to see Soul with a smirk on his face, "Black Star." The ninja grinned back, and the three made their way to their seats, Professor Stein cocking a brow.

"Thank you for interrupting class. Anything else you want to add before we start?" Stein said politely, but the look on his face said _talk again and I swear to God you will be the next thing I dissect_ so Black Star resigned himself to sitting down next to Tsubaki, who smiled at him in greeting.

Maka was right. It was okay if he didn't fight her battles for her everytime, because she already knew that she was his important friend, just as he was hers.

It was fine.

Because they were a family.

His family.

And he loved every one of them.

* * *

Light: Of course Black Star is way too cool to say that out loud, but you know his primitive brain is thinking.  
Black Star: Yeah, wait PRIMITIVE?  
Tsubaki: Ah, Light, please don't aggrivate him...  
Light: Anyway, I hope you guys liked it! It didn't turn out exactly how it had in my brain, but I kind of like it all the same... Hm. Anyway, -holds up a glass of juice- here's to my first Soul Eater fanfic! CHEERS! -chugs juice-

Don't forget to review!

Light of Heaven


	2. Chapter 2

Soul Eater: Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: What? A second chapter? WHY YES! More adorable 'family' love. –giggles- I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorite'd, and watched. It's all very much appreciated, and this second chapter is my way to thank you for the wonderful support!

Enjoy!

* * *

Black Star was like a puppy.

That was Maka's way of mentally summing up that big giant bundle of energy that was one of her closest friends. He was a big, slobbering, over-energized, attention-whoring puppy.

He was the kind of puppy you see in the store through the window and you think, "Awe~! He's so cute!" so you go in and ask to see him, and you hold him in your arms and hug him because he's so cute, and then… He pees on you.

But of course, you think, "Well, he's a puppy, so I'm sure it was because he was excited!" and you tell the cashier that you're getting the puppy, so you load up with all the necessary items to take care of your new little friend and you bring him home, and then… He chews up your couch.

And barks at your mailman – even when he's not there.

And pees on your computer cord.

And has to sleep right by your feet when you sleep, which isn't as cute as you thought it'd be.

And he whines when you leave.

And he yanks you around when you go for walks.

By this point you're thinking, "What did I ever see in this little hellion?"

Yeah…

That would be Black Star.

Maka sighed as she was forced to stop, the source being Soul chasing Black Star around herself and Tsubaki in a very "uncool" manner. The blonde looked to Tsubaki, who shrugged and smiled sheepishly. Sighing again, Maka reached into her bag and pulled out her very thick – very painful – book that she always had on her for the sole purpose of—

"MAKA CHOP!"

Black Star fell to the ground, clutching his head of blue spikes. Maka turned dangerously to Soul, who held up his hands in defeat and pointed at Black Star, "He started it, I swear!" She scowled and rolled her eyes, Tsubaki and she walking around Black Star – who was still holding onto his head, which was developing quite the lump.

"Maka~!" the ninja whined, finally standing up, "That hurt!"

"Oh~? The Great One is hurt by a mere little girl?" Maka said teasingly, edging him on into rant mode. If she managed that, she could easily walk away and get to class before she was tardy. She saw his eyebrow twitch, he crossed his arms, and Maka knew that she had him.

"BAH! One as big as me can't be hurt by such inferior tactics like yours Maka. YES! Revel in the shine of my glory and wonderfully handsome face and—Maka?" the teen glanced around, finding only a sheepishly smiling Tsubaki around him, "Where'd she go?"

Tsubaki sighed, "She went to class. Where we should be." Black Star froze, then glanced behind him – catching a glimpse of the blonde pigtails vanishing around a corner.

"OH NO!" he shouted, grabbing Tsubaki's hand and bolting down the hallway yelling the girl's name, "BUT I'M NOT DONE TALKING ABOUT MY GREATNESS YET!"

Maka flinched as the sound of the ninja's voice increased, and her head sunk low as if she was trying to make herself small and invisible, "Maka," Soul said next to her, "You aren't going to hit him are you?" And he didn't mean a normal Maka Chop. He meant giving Black Star the Maka Chop of Death that was usually reserved for Soul and Soul alone. He knew Black Star was tough, but he didn't think the blue haired boy could handle the full strength of Maka's furry.

"I can't…" Maka started, "That'd be animal cruelty." Soul raised a brow, obviously not getting the thought pattern Maka was currently on. What did animal cruelty have to do with Black Star? Nonetheless, Soul was glad that he wouldn't be out of a best friend just yet.

That is…

"MA~KA~! STOP AND LISTEN TO MY AWESOME-NESS ALREADY!"

…if Black Star would stop talking.

Tsubaki gripped the collar of the energetic ninja's shirt in a fruitless attempt to halt the boy long enough for Maka to escape. But going back to that puppy analogy, he was currently acting like the type of dog that was so strong _it_ took _you_ for a walk.

Black Star stopped in a huff when he lost track of the weapon and scythe meister combo, turning to Tsubaki with a frown, "This is all your fault."

"You're the one bothering Maka." Tsubaki countered with a huff of her own, crossing her arms and giving him a mild glare to show her displeasure in his current attitude, "Really now, what am I going to do with you?"

The ninja shrugged, giving her an infectious smile, "I can't help it, we're a family."

"Huh?"

Black Star's smile increased in size, "We're a family! Aren't little brother's supposed to be annoying?" Tsubaki stared at the male as if he'd grown a second head, "What?"

Laughter bubbling forth from her throat, Black Star waited until she was done before pestering her with another "_What? What'd I do?_"

"Don't let Maka hear you say that, I don't think she'll appreciate the sentiment," was the weapon's response, a smile on her lips.

Black Star frowned, "Why not? She should be grateful I'm willing to be her little brother figure!"

"Uh-huh."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing Black Star."

"How come I don't believe you?"

"Honest!"

"Uh-huh…"

"Teehee."

"HEY! Now you're laughing~! TSUBAKI! GET BACK HERE AND TELL ME WHAT YOU MEAN DAMMIT!"

* * *

Light Note: I personally wouldn't want Black Star for a little brother… But hey, that's just me.

Now, I'm not actually sure if Black Star is older or younger than Maka, but in terms of the stereotypical family, Black Star would be the little brother figure. Soul and Kidd would either be the older brother or father figure(interchangeable really…) and Tsubaki would be the mother. Liz and Patty are obvious big/little sister figures.

And that's my little Shibusen student family tree. 8D

Hope you guys liked the second chapter. If I get the same response the first chapter got, then I'll come up with a third chapter for you wonderful reviewers~! Thanks so much for the great response!

Light of Heaven


	3. Chapter 3

Soul Eater: Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: ANOTHER ONE? Why yes! After all the wonderful watches and reviews I got on this story I felt the need for another chapter as a way to say thank you (again!). So this is for you guys. More cute Maka/Blackstar cute family moments for all to enjoy.

Enjoy!

* * *

Blackstar gulped down a sigh, instead deciding to drum his fingers along the top of his desk. Tsubaki noticed his antic, and - once she caught his eye - gave the young ninja a reassuring smile. Leaning closer to him, the black haired girl whispered into Blackstar's ear, "Worried?"

"Me? Worried?" Blackstar, surprisingly, whispered back, giving his weapon his trademark big grin, "Never. I'm too big to be worried." Tsubaki nodded and smiled, letting the conversation drop off, but his fingertips were still tapping on the desktop on an off beat.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Blackstar snuck a glance at the empty seats a few rows below him. He could hear Stein's words droning in his ears, but as per usual he was tuning the crazy wielder out. His mind was preoccupied with Maka's empty seat to care about the correct way to dissect a dodo bird anyway.

Tomorrow would make a week that Maka and Soul had been missing from class on an important mission for Shinigami-sama. They'd been shipped off to Russia to look into a village that was rumored to have one of Medusa's hideouts with information pertaining to the black blood.

When he'd heard about the mission, he remember the way Maka's face was hard set, premature worry lines etching themselves into her furrowed brow, and he'd felt an unsettling feeling in his stomach.

"You're going because of Chrona, aren't you?" the ninja had asked, and at Maka's nod, he'd frowned and replied, "Revenge is a disgusting thing Maka. You shouldn't get involved in it."

However, Maka had just given him a forced smile, told him she'd be fine and left with Soul on the scythe weapon's motorcycle, her pigtails streaming behind her from the wind.

The unsettling feeling hadn't left him since then, and it doubled itself whenever he was in a situation where Maka should have been.

Like when he said something ridiculous and wasn't "rewarded" with a Maka Chop.

Or when he was trying to do his homework and Maka wasn't there to explain it in ways he understood.

Or, like now, when they were in class, and Maka wasn't seated below him, studiously taking notes while complaining to Soul about his laziness.

Tsubaki nudged him then, bringing the icy blue haired ninja back to reality, "Ha? Was is it Tsubaki?"

His weapon smiled at him, "Stein-sensei says that Maka and Soul should be returning within the hour. Liz, Patty and Kid were thinking of throwing a welcome home party. Want to join?"

Blackstar sucked in a breath, covering up his glee at the prospect of Maka's return by putting on his front, "Of course I'll be there! What kind of party would it be if a big person such as myself wasn't attending? That I should be joining such a party on Maka's behalf will be such an honor for her that she might cry great big tears of joy!" The ninja let out a hearty laugh, which Tsubaki answered with a smile and a sigh.

"Shall we go then? We need to help Kid out with the decorations."

Blackstar's smile dropped, "Awwwe! But Tsubaki, why do we have to help that OCD freak with the decorations? An inch the wrong way and you know he's going to have a cow and we'll have to try and stall Maka and Soul so the idiot can fix it!"

The girl giggled at the mental image, "Now now Blackstar. Just think how happy Maka will be to have a party thrown for her! Why, it'd be a shame if the decorations were all amiss!"

"I'm just saying we leave that idiot to his devices and do something useful with our time instead of trying to plea with that moron that _Nooooo_ no that does _not_ look THREE CENTIMETERS OFF to me!" Blackstar whined, as he and Tsubaki made their way down the hallway.

Smiling, Tsubaki noted the earlier tenseness that had overtaken her friend was gone, "Well I guess it was nothing after all." Tsubaki said to herself, walking to catch up with Blackstar's fast pace.

After all, it was normal for siblings to miss each other, wasn't it?

Tsubaki giggled again, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. Blackstar glanced at her with a confused look, "What?"

"Such a cute little brother you are."

"WHAT?" Blackstar yelped, his eyes wide and his face taking on a slight shade of pink.

The black haired girl let loose some more giggles, as she ran ahead of the young ninja, "Nothing! Nothing!"

"TSUBAKI! Don't you say anything about that to Maka!" Blackstar yelled at his weapon. He would have given chase if it hadn't been for the curious voice from behind him asking, "Say anything about what to me?"

Turning on his heel, Blackstar found him face to face with Maka, the scythe wielder already back into her usual garb and a book tucked into the crook of her arms, "M-m-m-m-MAKA!" the ninja stuttered, pulling himself back a few paces.

The blonde's head cocked to the side in confusion, "Yes, Blackstar?"

"I thought you weren't going to be back for another hour?"

Maka shrugged, "Soul had us take a shortcut that cut our time back by a good few hours. Apparently he had something he wanted to do as soon as we got back and he couldn't waste the extra time." Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, Maka brought the conversation back to its original topic, "So what am I not supposed to know?"

"Why would I tell you?" Blackstar questioned, and Maka giggled and shrugged, "Ah, whatever… Just forget it."

Smiling, Maka leaned forward a little, encroaching on Blackstar's personal space, "So?"

"So what?"

"Did you miss me?" the girl asked with an air of simplicity.

Blackstar fumbled for an appropriate answer before slipping into his front as he puffed out his chest, "Bah! Why would one such as I miss someone who is so little compared to him?" He scoffed and turned his head away from hers, crossing his arms in defiance.

However, Maka just chortled, and pushed past him to head the way Tsubaki had gone. When she had gone a few paces, the girl turned around and grinned foolishly at her friend, "I missed you too."

"I didn't miss you!" Blackstar defended, but Maka had already righted herself and was walking away from him. Giving chase, Blackstar yelled again, "I didn't miss you!"

The grin on his face, however, told otherwise.

It was certainly good to have her back.

Again, not that he'd ever say that aloud.

But it's the thought that counts.

* * *

Light Note: I couldn't think of a cute brother/sister things to do for a while… but I moved recently, and suddenly realized how much I missed my "sister" (she's just a really close friend who I love dearly like a sister) and how much she really affected my everyday life with small insignificant things.

So I decided to try and express that here… Please tell me what you guys think. I'm not so sure with how this chapter came out, so your opinions matter. Thanks so much for reading.

Light of Heaven


	4. Chapter 4

Soul Eater: Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: Oh goodness gracious me oh my! I think this is my most loved story, and I only have three (well, now four) chapters and barely update! I guess, I just want to say thank you to all the reviewers and watchers who've shown this story so much love.

Thank you!

* * *

From a biased point of view, the bickering was a bit out of hand.

From an impartial point of view, the bickering was harmless.

And from their point of view, the bickering was just normal sibling rivalry.

"You can't because I say you can't!"

"That is the most ridiculous reasoning I think I've _ever_ heard of!"

"You're face is ridiculous!"

"Oh, REAL MATURE!"

Maka and Blackstar were nearly nose to nose, just a fraction of a centimeter away from quite literally butting heads, though they were already past that point metaphorically speaking.

"You can't control what I can or cannot do, Blackstar," Maka snapped, her green eyes blazing with fury.

Blackstar rebutted with a scowl of his own, "I can if I know that you're not strong enough to do it!"

The blond roared with laughter, "I defeated Arachne and _this_ is what you say I'm not strong enough for? Have you taken too many hits to the head?" Maka clocked him on the head with her knuckles, checking for echos, "Maybe you need a refill."

Indignant, Blackstart slapped at her hand, "All I'm saying is that Arachne was luck, and you had Soul to help you. You wouldn't have been able to do that on your own."

"Yes, because I don't have the physical prowess of you or Kidd, so obviously I can't manage such a simple feat as this," Maka said, sounding like she'd just had an epiphany, but with malice attached to it.

Blackstar, of course, failed to pick up on the note of spite and plowed on, slowly but surely digging a deep grave into which Maka was soon to push him into, "Exactly what I'm saying! You're just a girl, you can't do things that we can."

Maka froze, reeling back as if he'd just slapped her across the face, "What are you saying exactly?"

He barely noted Tsubaki, Liz and Patty joining her, "That guys are better than girls."

"Guys are better than girls," Maka repeated, making a face as she said it. The words left a bad taste in her mouth apparently.

However, Blackstar saw nothing wrong with his statement, and looked to a frightened Soul and Kidd with confusion, "I'm right, right?"

"I'm not getting in on this," Soul retorted, taking a few more steps to safety.

Kidd shook his head violently, "With my best interests at heart, I'm afraid I have no opinion on the subject."

The ninja snorted at his friend's cowardice and turned back to find four _very_ enraged girls standing in front of him, "What?" He asked plainly, which served to add fuel to the fire, though he was still unaware why.

"So you're sexist then," Liz said with a bite to her words, taking a dangerous step towards him. He took a cautious step back, "If guys are better than girls, so much more _superior_ than girls, then let's see you do some of the things we do then."

Patti grinned viciously, "Yeah, let's help him get rid of his black heads!"

"Or pluck his eyebrows," added Tsubaki.

Liz inserted her own idea, "Let's wax those hair legs!"

Maka raised her hands and the three other girls fell silent, "Girls, girls… Let's have him know what it feels like to be victimized by one of this own kind. Let's let him experience the true horror of what being a woman in society _really_ entails."

The females looked at Maka, a bit confused, but intrigued nonetheless, "And what exactly do you have in mind, Maka?" Tsubaki asked, casting a glare at Blackstar – who was stupid enough not to retreat when he had the chance.

It was Maka's grin that made him start to worry. The blood curdling, ear to ear, he swore to God it was black blood induced smile that chilled him down to his core, "Maka… Maka, what are you doing?"

She pulled a rope from her bag and Blackstar started to sweat, "What's the rope for? What do you think you're doing to the great Blackstar, the man who will overcome—"

But the rest of the sentence was cut off as Tsubaki took a large rock to his head and knocked him out. The four girls stared in surprise, "You'd think after all the hits he took, he'd be more resilient." Liz commented. They shrugged and tied him up, dragging him away to a section of the school the girls were damn sure he'd never been to.

And just what she needed for Maka's plan…

* * *

Blackstar came to with a minor pounding in his head, "Ugh, how did someone as big as me get beaten by a rock handled by a _girl_?"

Someone cleared their throat, and Blackstar turned to it, opening his eyes as he did. He stumbled and realized that his body was strangely off balance. Glancing down at it, he saw a large bulge where his stomach should be, which was the thing weighing him down and setting him off kilter.

Pulling at the thing with no effort, he turned instead to find the source of the voice once more and found Maka wearing a suit.

With a mustache.

And a monocle?

"What the—"

Maka brought the newspaper back up, "Oh good, you're finally paying attention. Now dear, I was wondering when dinner would be ready." Blackstar opened his mouth, but Maka cut him off, "The children are famished, and I've been at work all day. I should assume you'd have dinner already started."

She lowered the newspaper to glare, "Really, what _have_ you been doing all day?"

It was then that the ninja saw his surroundings for what they were. They were in a small area that looked to be a kitchen and living room set. There was a table set for four, and pots and kettles with various substances boiling on the stove top. Heat radiating from the lower portion of the device told Blackstar that there was something in the oven as well.

"Maka, what the hell—"

"MAMA!" A voice cried, and suddenly he was tackled around the waist by Patti, who was dressed in a light pink onesy with giraffes on it, "Mama, mama, play with me!"

Tackled from another side, Liz, dressed in a similar fashion in a blue onesy with penguins, said in a forced little girl voice, "NO! Momma plays with me first!"

"No me!"

"NO, ME!"

"I'm younger, so I go first!"

"I'm oldest, I've been here longer!"

"So? I'm cuter!"

"I WASN'T AN ACCIDENT!" Liz yelled, and Patti began to cry loudly, "HA!"

Blackstar looked confused and helplessly up to Maka, who was rubbing her forehead and setting the newspaper aside, "Dear, deal with this. My head hurts, wake me when dinner is over."

"WHAT?" Blackstar cried, trying to shake the girls clinging to his legs, "Maka, don't leave me like this! What is going on?" He shuffled forward unsuccessfully, and put a hand to his lower back and groaned, "What is with this stupid belly thing? My back is killing me…"

"Momma!" The gun weapons chimed in unison, and he glared down at them in hopes of making them let go. Instead he caused them to cry more, "MOMMA DOESN'T LOVE US!"

"Will you PLEASE silence those children of yours? I'm trying to sleep!" He heard Maka call from what he was guessing to be a bedroom.

The sound of spilling liquid and burning food hit his nose, and he whipped around to face the kitchen. But what with Liz and Patti attached to his legs, he couldn't reach it fast enough, and soon there was a right disgusting mess on the counters and stove top.

Scrambling around, he managed to turn off all the burners and take the pots and kettles from the top, setting them on the messy counter.

One problem down.

"Uh, girls." Blackstar started, and the two forms connected to his legs looked up with expectant eyes, "Uh, _Mommy_ needs to deal with your father. So if you would just let go for a second…" He tried to pry them off him again, but they tightened their grips, "Liz, Patti, SERIOUSLY! This isn't funny!"

Suddenly the door banged open, and Tsubaki sauntered through, wearing a skimpy outfit that was causing a minor flush to creep up her neck. She hid it well and walked up to Maka, who had emerged a bit perturbed looking from the bedroom.

"I've decided I can't stay away!" Tsubaki exclaimed, throwing herself onto Maka, who held her like a china doll, "Let's run away together, just you and me!"

Maka looked aghast, "But what of my wife, my children?"

Tsubaki shook her head and pressed herself against Maka once more, "They don't matter. Come on, run away with me!"

The blond shrugged, "Kay. Have fun with the kids, honey!" The last part was directed at Blackstar and paired with a wave, and Tsubaki and Maka fled as fast as they'd come in, leaving him with Liz and Patti, who were obnoxiously asking questions.

"Where did Daddy go?"

"Who was that lady?"

"Is Daddy coming back soon?"

"Why did Daddy go with the pretty lady?"

"Does that mean Mommy has a pretty man too?"

"Are you going to leave with the pretty man?"

"What is Mommy going to—"

Blackstar kicked his foot out, sending Liz flying into the lazy boy chair. He did the same with the leg Patti had claimed, flinging her into the couch. He managed to find a loose section of fabric, and ripped off the protrusion, which he figured was a fat suit of some kind. Doing so left him shirtless, but he hardly noticed as he glare at Maka and Tsubaki, who were dressed more normally – Tsubaki in actual clothes and Maka had lost the mustache and monocle.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?" he ground out, and Maka crossed her arms.

"Well, you said guys were better at girls, so this, which is such a normal occurrence in the pathetic daily lives of weakling women, should be an easy task for you, a great big strong man such as yourself," her tone was in warning, and Blackstar looked to the ruined kitchen, to Liz and Patti, and finally to Maka and Tsubaki before sighing.

Blackstar racked a hand through his head, "Alright, I get it. I take it back."

She grinned big then, all the girls did, and Maka bounced away, "If that's the case, then it doesn't matter if I go on my own to find Chrona!"

The ninja nodded a couple times, before registering what she said, "No, that is NOT what I mean!" He gave chase, but he knew it was futile. She was as stubborn as he, if not more, and she'd do damn well whatever she wanted, whether he approved or not.

But at least he'd learned a lesson today.

Angry woman are scary, do not poke.

* * *

Light Note: I wanted this to kinda be like the fights a family gets into where someone makes one wrong comment, and then it's suddenly men versus women. In my family, the men usually lose. Horribly. Teehee? We Pannebaker's are vicious!

That and I thought it'd be funny to put Blackstar through that kind of mental torture. LOL And to see Maka with a moustache and a monocle.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you thought it was as funny as I did.

Light of Heaven


	5. Chapter 5

Soul Eater: Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: I was listening to You Are the Moon by The Hush Sound, and thought the song was something like a friend trying to help you see how beautiful you are to the world. Like how most girls are, we need someone to help us see the truth of the grace and beauty we all hold.

My family, or mainly my brother, dad, and the three girls I love dearly as sisters, are the ones that always help me to remember that I am the moon, and I am beautiful. So I thought this would be absolutely cute to see Blackstar help Maka the same way.

Warning, BLACKSTAR IS SO COMPLETELY OUT OF CHARACTER THAT I AM SOMEWHAT ASHAMED OF MYSELF THAT I MADE HIM DO THIS. D:

* * *

Soul cast a weary glance to the closed door, seemingly an impenetrable wall of oak finished wood, barring the path of any who would dare breach it. His cool gaze slid itself onto the form standing in his doorway, blue hair damp from the mist of the late hour that clung to his every inch; he'd obviously ran here from the way his breathing seemed labored.

Sighing, the scythe weapon tilted his head and moved out of Blackstar's way, allowing him entrance to the small apartment, "I don't think you'll be very successful, Blackstar. She wouldn't even let Tsubaki, Liz or Patti in there. She almost killed Kid when he tried."

The ninja threw a glance over his shoulder, "I'm not them though, I'm me." He stated it simply, which ruffled Soul's feathers a bit. As if Maka would let him in, when Soul wasn't even allowed access to the room at the moment. He bit his tongue though and watched silently as Blackstar crouched by the door, giving it a light knock.

That certainly surprised Soul.

Maka's voice, a bit terse and worse for the wear, came from behind the slab of wood, "Go away."

"No."

There was the sound of a growl mixed with a sigh, "Blackstar, go home. I'm not coming out."

He stayed crouched low to the door, "I don't want you to come out, I want to go in."

Another sigh, "I don't want to see anyone, Blackstar, _please_ just _go_."

Soul caught the minor tilt of the corners of the ninjas lips, dipping down for only a moment and gone before Soul could really say he saw the frown at all, "You can't boss me around, I'm bigger than you!"

A gurgled laugh came forth, certainly a good sign. Blackstar pushed forward, "Come on, I promise I won't say anything. I just want to know that you're not going to try to do anything stupid all locked up in your room like this."

"I would never!" she retorted, indignant. An even better sign, "That is just ridiculous, how could you even think I would do something like that?"

Blackstar shrugged, though she couldn't really see the action, "Well, then prove me wrong and let me in."

A moments pause, and the door clicked open a fraction. He pushed it wide enough to slip through, and flashed a smile to Soul, "I'll have this settled in a minute."

Translation being: _HA! MAKA LIKES ME BETTER BECAUSE I AM THAT MUCH MORE AWESOME THAN YOU SO WHAT NOW!_

Oh so mature.

As he closed the door behind him, a blanketed form reestablished the lock, before the hand connected to the body of Maka slithered back into the blanket cocoon. Blackstar watched this with minor amusement, "Alright, let's see the damage."

Her words were a bit muffled through the cloth, but what he was able to make out were defiant strings of words not fit for a lady to say, "Come on, Maka. I can't help you unless I can see what the problem is."

That managed to get her eyes to peek out, the green orbs shining with oncoming tears, "I don't want anyone to see me. That's the point of locking myself in my room." The eyes were gone, and she mumbled through the blanket, "I'm ugly." The ninja scooted forward and grabbed onto folds of the blanket, giving them gentle tugs.

"Maka, I promise you, you're anything but, okay?" His voice was gentle for a change, and it gave Maka pause enough for Blackstar to wrestle the comforter down to her shoulders and assess the damages. She had apparently tried coloring her hair, as it was stained in uneven streaks a muddy shade of brown. Her face was scrubbed red and raw, obviously from trying to remove whatever substance she'd put on her face. It looked like the stuff had given her a minor rash that was adding to the red, going all the way down her neck as well.

She moaned painfully and turned her body away from him with a desolate expression creeping onto her features, "See? I told you, I look like a freak now!" Blackstar bit back a chuckle. Maka had never really been one to be "girly" so this was a side of the blonde he'd never really seen before, and it was amusing.

"Maka," he started, shifting his weight so he could move his body into her view again to grab her attention. He needed her to understand he wasn't joking, and this was something he would _not_ be repeating, "You are fine, just the way you are. I know that may seem crazy to you, but you are extraordinary. You are!" He exclaimed the last part, leaning forward to grip her shoulders. She'd tried to burrow herself back into the blankets with a roll of her eyes.

"Blackstar, you are so dense, you wouldn't know beauty if it slapped you for being rude," the blonde deadpanned a moment, "And believe me, I'm sure it has."

The blue haired teen growled low under his breath, "Any guy can tell you what beauty is, Maka, but we see things that you girls never will because you are always so worried about stupid things." He ran a hand through his hair; this was more awkward than he'd thought it'd be, "You are beautiful," he flicked at her botched dye job, "No matter your hair color, or how 'blemish free' your face is."

She giggled a bit at the mocking tone he used, mimicking the announcers for those face wash ads that are always talking about being 'clean, clear and under control' and the like.

Blackstar grinned then, "If I have to tell you every day that you're beautiful, then so be it. Somebody has to do it, because if not you'll get paranoid and try to pull something like this again." Scoffing, he ruffled her hair, "And you say you never do anything stupid."

Smacking his hand away, she giggled again, not being able to help herself. He smirked, and then pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged him back, hoping that she wouldn't have to say just how grateful she was for his little intervention, "Alright, I guess you can call Liz and Patti now… They'd know how to fix me."

He nodded and stood up, "Yup. And by tomorrow you'll be back to your normal self! Trust me, it'll be okay." She gave a curt nod back and smiled, "I'll see you at school, Maka."

"See you at school, Blackstar," he turned to go and opened the door enough to squeeze back out, "Thank you…" Maka whispered, pulling the blanket up to cover the minor blush on her face. Blackstar threw her a grin over his shoulder and waved a hand goodbye before he was gone.

There was a moment's pause, and then a fresh knock, followed by Soul's voice, "Can I come in now?"

"Yeah."

Soul's form appeared in her now open doorway, regarding her with a sigh and a head shake, "This is what the big hullabaloo is about?" She laughed, now realizing how ridiculous she'd been acting. The scythe weapon smirked down at her, "Ah well, you're still beautiful to me."

Maka's breath caught for a moment, before her blush came back full force and she burrowed into her cocoon, "Okay, you can go now."

"What?"

"GO!"

"Maka, what did I do?"

"Will you just GO!"

"Maka!"

* * *

Light Note: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I hope you enjoyed the read. I know Blackstar is WAY out of character, but it's just so cute in my head when he gets all understanding and sweet that I just can't help myself. Haha, what can I say, I'm a sucker for the fluff. I almost just scrapped this one, but decided to post it anyway because of all the love this story has been getting, so this one is for you guys!

Light of Heaven


	6. Chapter 6

Soul Eater: Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: I want to just reiterate something really quick. I don't mean to sound rude, but I just want to let everyone know what they're reading.

This story is based around Maka and Blackstar's PLATONIC relationship. And because I am a MakaxSoul fan, there is an underlying tone of that to all Soul Eater things I write. If that bothers you, I really am sorry. I hope you can look past that and continue to read this chapter, as it is a more obvious MakaxSoul chapter. Thanks.

* * *

Maka frowned as Tsubaki tried to stifle a giggle. Blackstar's pouting face was still visible in her peripherals, and while she gave her friend a silent plea to shut up, she continued to watch the male's varying expressions; none all that positive.

Turning fully to Blackstar as his face turned to something that looked like it could be potentially dangerous to his brain's health, Maka rolled her eyes and huffed, "What is it Blackstar?"

The ninja meister pulled up a stoic look and glanced away, crossing his arms, "Nothing. Why would you think someone as big as I would care about your puny conversations?"

Tsubaki covered her mouth as another giggle made its way through, "Maybe because we're talking about how Soul finally asked Maka on a date?"

"It's not a date!" Maka defended automatically.

Blackstar started making faces again.

Clapping to herself, Tsubaki let a couple more giggles breach through, much to the glares of Maka, "So it _is_ about Maka's date!"

Maka growled and rounded on her friend, "I'm trying to tell you that it's not a date. He just needs someone to come with him to this thing his family is throwing."

The black haired beauty just smiled to herself, "Yes, the whole 'putting the past behind him' thing you've got him doing."

"Embracing his past, not putting it behind him," Maka corrected. Blackstar snorted his disapproval, to which Maka aptly replied with a swift Maka Chop to the back of his turned head, "And yes. It's important that he accepts who he is. That way the demon won't have anymore threads to pull at. Professor Stein thinks that way it's possible for him to weaken the black blood."

Tsubaki genuinely nodded this time, before letting her playful grin come to her face again, "But it's a formal dinner."

"Yes with his whole family," Maka supplied, not realizing she was digging herself into a hole.

The girl pressed on, "A formal dinner, with his whole family," Tsubaki said in an impressed tone.

Maka bobbed her head, eyes closed as she remembered all the details, "At some fancy hotel or somebody's house in the city."

"Oh, how indulgent!" Tsubaki remarked, "And you're supposed to bring a date?"

One more nod from Maka, "Yes, you're supposed to bring a date."

Tsubaki let a wicked grin come to her face, "So if you are supposed to bring a date, doesn't that make it a date?"

On cue, Maka's face lit up various shades of red as she stumbled through her words, "It's obligatory! Like the Valentine's chocolate."

However, Tsubaki wasn't listening, or if she was she was pretending not to hear or care. Which only serve to fluster Maka more as she doubled her efforts to get the older girl to understand that this was_ not_ a date and that she was simply going with him as his meister and friend.

Halfway through Maka's rambling efforts, Blackstar had slowly stood from the table and began pacing. The two girls were too into their playful antics that they didn't notice until the ninja meister slammed his hands down onto the table and fixed Maka with a deadly look.

"Do you want it to be?" he asked, with narrowed eyes at the blonde. Maka's face lit up another shade of red that he couldn't even name, "I'll take that as yes."

"What are you, my father?" Maka yelled lamely, making a move to punch Blackstar that was stopped by Tsubaki, "Jeez, what does it matter to you anyway?"

Standing up again, Blackstar seemed to not hear her, too busy thinking to himself. Nodding, he apparently had decided on a course of action, because he was gone before either girl had a chance to ask him what he was planning.

However, both girls knew that it couldn't be good…

At Maka's apartment with Soul, the scythe weapon was lazing on the couch, a bowl of chips situated on his stomach as he glanced at the door every once in a while, wondering absently when his meister was going to be home.

It was always boring without her there to pester him.

Though as if by a miracle, Soul heard the door handle jiggle. Not wanting to seem like he'd been missing her or anything, Soul turned the volume to the television up. The door opened and he called a greeting over his shoulder, "We're out of milk by the way."

"That's not my problem," came the response, and confused by the voice, Soul sat up to see Blackstar stalking into the room.

"Oh, hey Blackstar," Soul remarked, "You know, you should really stop breaking into other people's houses. Eventually someone is going to call the cops or something on you."

Blackstar said nothing, and continued his march to the back of the couch, where he soon quickly invaded Soul's personal boundary line and got in his face, "Do you want the dinner with Maka to be a date?"

Soul spluttered for a second, floundering as he tried to get space back between him and the ninja and ended up falling off the couch, spilling his chips in the process, "What?"

"Just answer the question," Blackstar replied coldly, staring down his friend with eyes that could stop Medusa in her tracks.

Taking a gulp of air, Soul took a moment to stand and back away from the ninja meister before answering, "Kinda."

Blackstar stared at Soul for a beat longer, taking in his flushed face and tilting his head to the side. Crossing his arms, he sighed and closed his eyes, "One more question."

"Yeah?" Soul asked carefully.

"What are your intentions with our Maka?" the blue haired teen questioned quickly, pointing a finger at Soul like he was on trial, "And no lying!"

Soul, a bit confused and speechless, took another moment to think about the question before letting a small grin come onto his face, "Does Maka want it to be a date?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," was his answer. Soul couldn't help but chuckle and think about what Maka had been going on about lately about them being a family.

I guess this would be Blackstar's try at being the protective older brother.

Laughing, Soul walked over and clapped his friend on the shoulder, "I'll never hurt her mate, you know that." Blackstar nodded and grinned at his best friend, "What?"

"She totally wants it to be a date."

Soul grinned, "Is that so?"

"BLACKSTAR!" Maka's yell came, and was soon followed by a Super Maka Chop of Doom and Tsubaki's loud laughter filling the room, joined by Soul. Before he was dealt a Super Maka Chop of Doom as well.

Maka's face was flushed a nice red as she glared down at the two boys holding their heads in pain, "Really, what am I going to do with the two of you!"

Behind her, Tsubaki smiled and leaned a hip onto the doorframe, "Ah, family. Can't live with them, can't live without them."

* * *

Light Note: Alright! Kinda short, but I had this idea and just really wanted to give you guys another chapter. You guys are by far the most amazing people in the world. I can NOT believe how many reviews and adds I got when I woke up the day after posting chapter five. It made me grin like an idiot all day. Thank you all so much!

I hoped you all loved chapter six, and I hope you will continue to read whatever I come out with next.


	7. Chapter 7

Soul Eater: Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: Woo! Chapter seven. Thought this up while my friend, who is like a sister to me, and I were discussing how often we end up tuning each other out naturally.

I just want to give a big giant thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorite'd and put this on their story alert. It means the world to me!

* * *

"Aaaargh!" Kim moaned, rolling her head back as well as her eyes as Blackstar, a few feet ahead of her, continued to rant about his greatness, "Doesn't he ever shut up?"

Soul, who was to her right, sighed and shook his head, "I don't think he knows the meaning of the term."

The young witch pouted, "How unfortunate."

To her left, Maka was reading a book as they walked and was seemingly unaware of the conversation, and of the fact that the group had stopped walking until she collided painfully into Blackstar's back, "Ouch!" The book she'd been reading had slammed up and smashed into her face, and the blonde meister rubbed her nose as she glared forward, "What the heck Blackstar?"

"What? You ran into me. You need to watch where you're going, Maka," Blackstar said casually, even throwing in a laugh for good measure. Maka wasn't pleased.

Now, it's probable that Blackstar only meant it as a joke, evidence being his added laughter. Maka, however, not being pleased, did not care for the joke.

"It's not my fault that you just randomly stopped in the middle of the hallway. People are walking here," Maka said in clipped tones, closing her book just in case she needed to Maka Chop him.

The ninja meister froze, staring at Maka with a confused look, "Wait, are you saying it's _my_ fault that _you_ ran into _me_?"

Maka didn't shy away, "That's exactly what I'm saying. This is a hallway, not a stop-irregularly-way."

"That's not even a word!"

The blonde sighed, "Exactly. That's why it's wrong. The word for what you did doesn't even exist because you're not meant to be doing it."

"What? Are you challenging me, who is so big that you cannot even comprehend my greatness?" Blackstar said, appalled judging by the tone, and Kim groaned and began walking away.

Maka, on the other hand, simply reopened her book and began reading, throwing in a needed, "Uh-huh," or, "Oh is that so?" when needed. Soul and Tsubaki decided to leave as well, deciding that the idiots were best left to their own devices. Not that they would say that aloud.

It wasn't until the bell had rung and Cid had shown up to drag them to class that Maka turned to Blackstar with a completely blank face, as he'd just yelled at her if she'd heard anything he'd said and stated, "I'm sorry, what? I wasn't listening."

Once they'd gotten to class, Blackstar was strangely quiet. Sulking to himself instead of creating a scene like he usually did. Kim and Tsubaki looked on with astonishment.

Soul leaned over during a break in the lesson, "Oi, Maka."

She turned to face her weapon with a smile, "What is it?"

"What did you do to Blackstar to get him acting like that?" Soul inquired in a low tone. Maka replied with laughter.

"I honestly don't know. He started going off about being great, so I just tuned him out and everything after that I don't really remember until Cid showed up," the blonde explained with a shrug.

The scythe weapon, however, was impressed, "You can tune him out?"

"Yeah…" Maka said slowly, not knowing where this was going.

Soul just stared, before turning behind him to tell Kim what Maka had said. And then Kim told Tsubaki, who told Liz, who tried to tell Patty but ended up telling Kidd instead, who told Oxford, who told Jackie, who stared at the sulking Blackstar with further interest.

Maka just gave another shrug, "I don't see the big deal. When dealing with annoying things, eventually you just get used to it," and with that went back to her book.

* * *

Light Note: So this is just something short and simple. I'm kind of running out of ideas, so I think I might end this story soon. Unless you guys have really funny stories about your family that you'd want to see me write Maka and Co. in.

If you do, just let me know in a review, and if not, review anyway because I like hearing from you guys! Thanks for reading, and see you next time.


	8. Chapter 8

Soul Eater: Family  
Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: You've all been silently demanding this with all your sweet reviews and watching me and this story, and I just couldn't bear to let you guys down. This chapter is due to **WhatChuuKnowBoutMe** who gave me a prompt that inspired an interesting idea.

Enjoy!

* * *

Black Star continued to stare at the petite blonde with his slack jawed expression that he'd adopted early into the conversation. No matter how many times she explained it, the ninja meister was still confused on the subject.

She could tell that, and Maka blew out a sigh that rattled her bangs out of place and fixed him with a glare, "I just need a simple yes or no answer, Black Star, you're making this worse than it has to be."

"I get that," he drawled, "But I just don't understand why."

Maka crossed her arms, "You don't have to understand."

He nodded a couple times, "Right. But I want to."

Maka's expression flat lined, "Why?"

"Because it doesn't make sense!"

"WILL YOU JUST GIVE ME YOUR PANTS?" Maka shouted, which of course drew the attention of Tsubaki from the kitchen.

"I certainly hope you don't mean the pants he's wearing now," the black haired beauty chipped in, tasting a sauce off the tip of the spoon she was holding. Maka didn't fluster as per usual, instead throwing the older girl an appeasing look.

Maka shook her head, "I don't need _those_ pants. Just a pair of pants."

The male grimaced, "Don't you have pants of your own?"

Sighing, the scythe meister nodded before pinning Black Star with a glare, "But, like I said, I need _your_ pants."

This had Tsubaki's interest, and she leaned against the door frame while keeping an idle eye on her cooking, "Why do you need his?"

"Like I was trying to tell him," Maka ground out, switching her attention over to someone who looked a little more intelligent, "Soul's pants are too small for me, and Kidd is out on a mission, so I can't ask him, which leaves Black Star."

Tsubaki smirked, "But that doesn't answer why you need a pair of boy's pants anyway."

The blonde paused, "Ah," she mumbled, suddenly embarrassed, "Well, that's the thing… Uhm, see it's like this… And I… Er…"

"Maka, you're mumbling," Tsubaki pointed out playfully. Black Star had crossed his arms and was waiting diligently for his answer.

She took a deep breath, bracing herself for the ultimate embarrassment, "Blair has this guy who she's been seeing, if you want to call what Blair does a form of dating, and he took something of hers so I'm supposed to pretend to be her new boyfriend to distract him while she sneaks into his place and looks for it."

Black Star blinked a few times, "Why doesn't she just have you beat him up as a girl?"

"That's what _I_ said!" Maka exclaimed.

It was then that the hilarity of the situation settled in and the three burst into a loud ruckus of laughter.

Maka was griping the sides of her stomach as they ached with pain when suddenly her vision was covered in a veil of white. Pulling the article off her head, the blonde found herself holding a pair of the ninja's white pants. She smiled brilliantly at him, and the duo shared another quick laugh.

"Thanks. I'll make sure to wash them before I bring them back," the scythe meister said as her companions accompanied her to the door. Pausing with her hand on the door knob, Maka turned around to face Black Star and add, "Please don't ever ask to borrow my clothes. Ever."

Snorting, Black Star waved her out the door, "It's a promise."

* * *

Light Note: So thanks again **WhatChuuKnowBoutMe** for the idea! I was reading your guys' reviews and saw your prompt and immediately came up with this idea! I hope you guys enjoyed it!

Don't forget to review, it's what keeps me updating!

Light of Heaven


	9. Chapter 9

Soul Eater:Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo  
All rights reserved.

Light Note: This one comes from **XtreamEmily**who brought up that Tsubaki mentioned Black Star never getting sick. Anyone see where this is going? Oh yeah, this will be good.

Hope you guys like it!

**…...**

Maka could feel her eye twitching, and she placed a hand up to stop it. The twitching had started only recently, but it was derived from a very real, very serious feeling that had slowly been developing in her since the beginning of her now wasted Saturday morning.

It had been said once that Black Star never got sick. Maka used to swear by that fact when she saw him training in negative degree weather without getting so much as the sniffles. Now, however, she was ready and waiting to give whoever said that a swift Maka Chop of Doom to the head for not knocking on wood.

If they had, maybe she wouldn't be in her current situation of eye twitching, mind numbing, patience waning torture that was taking care of a feverish Black Star.

Tsubaki had no idea how it happened. She'd been in the kitchen making rice when suddenly Black Star had started coughing. _Coughing_, she'd stressed as she painfully gripped Maka's upper arms when the blonde meister had come over to give Tsubaki a break.

Black Star didn't sniffle, he didn't cough, and he certainly didn't have a hard time deciding if he was hot or cold. Unfortunately, he somehow had managed to come out with all three, plus a few extras, and it was now Maka's duty to take care of the sickly meister.

"I'm hot though," the ninja whined as his feet futilely struggled with the blanket covering his lower half. Maka had him bundled up in an attempt to sweat the fever out, but he was fighting with her at every chance, acting much akin to a small child that Maka felt it would be child abuse to Maka Chop him.

Which is why she contented to sigh and fling the cover off him with a flick of her wrist, "You'll be cold in five minutes."

The male pouted and crossed his arms over his bare chest, "I will not."

However, sure enough, a few moments later, Maka looked up from her book to see him shivering and reaching for the blanket. She sighed and leaned forward to pull the item back over him and reseated herself.

"This is horrible!" the male whined some more, thrashing his arms and causing him to break out into a round of coughs that left him shaking. Maka closed her book and dipped her hands into the bowl at her side, pulling out a washcloth that she wrung out and placed on his blazing forehead, "Why the heck do I have to deal with this?"

Drying her hands on her skirt, the blonde girl fixed him with a look, "Because even you are still only human Black Star."

"HA!" Black Star tried to bark, but his throat cracked and he had to continue in a lower octave, "Ha! I'm only human for now. One day I will surpass even god himself and I will never have to be sick again!"

Giggling, Maka leaned back onto the palm of her hands and grinned, "Once you surpass god. That'll be a while. What will you do if you get sick again in the mean time?" The quieted the tortured boy.

He tried not to disturb the amazingly cool towel on his forehead as he turned to look at Maka from the corner of his eye, "Well I guess I can manage for now."

She perked up at that, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Black Star burrowed himself deeper under his blanket, and Maka could just barely make it out as he muttered, "If it's Tsubaki and you, I guess that it'd be alright."

Without saying a word, Maka took the towel from Black Star's forehead and dipped it back into the water. As she took her time wringing it out, the ninja peeked out from under his cover to see his fellow meister looking at him with a strange look on her face, "What?"

"Don't think for even a second that I am doing this for you," Maka grumbled, but they both knew she was kidding, "I'm only here because you've run Tsubaki down to the bones with all your whining!"

The male grinned weakly before sighing and rolling onto his tired, "I'm going to sleep."

"Good, you do that and give me a break," she returned with a small smile of her own as she dried her hands again and reopened her book to her place.

Not a moment after Black Star's even breathing signaled his entry into dream land, there was the sound of a door opening, and Tsubaki's voice announcing her return, "Welcome back!" Maka called back, loud enough to be heard, but not so much as to wake Black Star.

Maka pushed to her feet and was greeted by the sight of her friend, looking much more refreshed than she had when the scythe meister had arrived. The older girl closed the distance between them and gave Maka a quick fleeting hug before pulling back and whispering, "Thank you."

Giving one in return, Maka glanced at the sleeping form before pinning Tsubaki with a serious look, "If I end up getting sick because of this kid, it's going to be his end."

Tsubaki tittered as she walked Maka to the door, "True, but if you get sick, then we can force him to take of you in return!"

"I don't know if that would be such a brilliant idea," the blonde countered and waved good night.

Still, it was comforting to know that when she was in a place of need, she had people to take care of her. Black Star included.

**…...**

Light Note: Well! Thanks again to **XtreamEmily**for the wonderful idea! This was really fun to write and I'm surprised I didn't think of it before.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and keep reviewing! They keep me feeling like it's worth it.

Light of Heaven


	10. Chapter 10

Soul Eater:Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo  
All rights reserved.

Light Note: I don't actually have any idea where this came from... I just got this idea of Blackstar pulling Maka into some mud and Soul popping up to go, "Guy WTF?" And so... Here this is. Chapter 10 of Family!

So... Enjoy!

**…...**

Maka furrowed her brow, "Blackstar, I'm not doing that."

The ninja meister pouted, "Oh, come on! It's not as bad as it looks."

"No, I think it's just as bad as it looks," she retorted.

He held out a hand to her anyway, "I'm telling you it's not! Once you get past the awkward squishy feeling, it's not bad at all!"

She deadpanned at him, "I don't want to get past the awkward squishy feeling! I don't want to experience the awkward squishy feeling at all!" Maka smacked his hand away, "For the last time, I am _not_playing in the mud with you!"

Blackstar was practically waist deep in a pit of wet dirt, hand print marks made of mud streaking his face and only broken up by his beaming smile. They'd gotten separated from Soul and Tsubaki while they were running through the forest and the ninja had managed to fall into the pit and get himself stuck.

He'd spent the rest of the time until this point trying and failing to get her into the mud with him. Sure, they'd tried pulling him out, but no matter how hard they tugged his feet wouldn't budge from their suction cupped position in the boggy ground.

"I didn't say _play_, I'm just saying to enjoy the moment with me," Blackstar drawled with a roll of his eyes, then flashed a smile, "From the mud."

Maka crossed her arms, "Only an idiot would willingly get into a sticky mud hole, and I am not an idiot."

"They say mud baths are really good for your skin," Blackstar tried, but Maka shot him a glare, "Worth a shot."

Sighing, Maka twisted the end of one of her pigtails as she gave the situation some thought, "This is quite the pickle. You're stuck and I can't really leave you to defend yourself while I go look for Soul and Tsubaki. Communication isn't working so there's no way to know where they are without using a tactic that gives away our own position... Which leaves trying to get you out, which hasn't been successful."

"Let's try the branch idea again," Blackstar suggested, wiggling his hips slightly, "I think I felt myself move a little that time."

The blond nodded and looked around for an appropriate branch and broke it off. Handing one end to the ninja meister, and gripping the other end in a tight hold under her armpit, Maka braced her legs and steeled her gaze, "On the count of three; One, two, thr-EEEK!"

On three, Blackstar yanked on the branch. Since Maka had locked her knees, she flew forward with a fast momentum.

Face first into the mud.

"Oops! Maka, you got a little something on your face there..." Blackstar mentioned casually as she slowly picked herself up to glare through the mud mask she was now adorning. He tried to smother his laughter, but a snicker escaped and soon Maka's hands were beating whatever surface of him they could hit.

"Blackstar you insensitive, unnerving, rude little git! I can't believe you actually did that! Now you're still stuck and I'm covered in mud too! What was the point of that anyway? This is ridiculous and-"

A voice behind them brought Maka's tiriad to a slow, awkward pause as she turned around to see a confused Soul and concerned Tsubaki standing behind them, "Maka..." he said as he took a step forward to pick her up under her armpits and heft her up, "Do I want to know?"

"No," Maka snapped and stomped over to Tsubaki.

Blackstar, however, looked up at his friend with a wide smile and declared, "Maka and I made some mud pies!"

Oh the stupid things siblings make you do...

**…...**

Light Note: Like I said, not really sure where this came from, but it's cute I think. Haha! I could just see Maka's pissed off face. Priceless. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and again! If you have a scene or snippet you'd like to see me write, then shoot me a PM or a review and tell me your idea!

Light of Heaven


	11. Chapter 11

Soul Eater: Family  
Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: Woo! Finally a new chapter! After all of the Crona stuff going on in the manga, I couldn't help myself with this chapter. Big brothers always have your back after all!

Enjoy~

**…...**

She could feel the eyes of her peers turn to her as she approached. The quick silence that settled over them told her all she needed to know about their conversation; Crona.

Ever since Shinigami-sama had given the order to kill Crona, things within their group had been tense. There was a general consensus of two opinions; to kill or not to kill. Maka's was the most obvious opinion. She knew that the whole situation was all Medusa's fault. None of this would have happened if that woman hadn't corrupted her own child.

Maka passed by without a word or a backwards glance. She didn't care where they stood on the matter. Maka would find Crona herself and that would be the end of it. All she had to do was find her, and the rest would fall into place.

For her, it wasn't a matter of if she would follow orders or not. Crona meant more than that. She was a troubled soul, and the young meister would not sit idly back while such a person was condemned to death for the actions of another. It wasn't right, no matter how you look at it.

The hallways had the same feeling as the outer courtyard. Her footsteps echoed off the silence and back to her own ears as she passed quickly through the hallways. Even though they were empty, she felt as if eyes followed her wherever she went. Those that spoke of her obvious defiance of Spartoi's orders creeping along the shadows of her vision; always there but never where she looked. Hiding out of sight like cowards.

It wasn't just a matter of order or chaos to Maka. This was about the life or death of an innocent, broken soul. One that she'd begun to heal. She felt obligated by their bond of friendship to save Crona, not only from the black blood and the madness, but from Crona's own self. Maka could not, would not, just let Crona's existence be wiped away like a stain because she was inconvenient to Shinigami-sama's 'order.'

Stein was damage the same as Crona. If he fell to the madness, would the orders be the same? Would Marie and her father be forced to strike down their friend? Her blood boiled at the thought of the possibility that they wouldn't even bat an eye at the thought.

Was friendship really such a fickle concept to order? Maka didn't want to think so. She wanted to believe that it was greater than order. That friendship allowed for cracks and rough edges in a person, that they didn't have to be perfect to be important. No one was perfect; if she fell to the madness, would her comrades fight for her safety or just end her for the sake of duty and righteousness?

She lifted her head at her name, not realizing she'd pulled to a stop in the middle of the corridor. Turning her head to look behind her, she found Blackstar lazing his way to her side, his hands stuffed in his pockets and looking like he didn't have a care in the world. It pissed her off.

"What do you want?" Maka snapped reflexively. She knew he wouldn't take offence to her crass attitude, but instantly felt guilty nonetheless at his blank stare of a response and sighed, "Sorry, I was just thinking."

The ninja meister gave her a quick once over, his eyes settling on the creases between her brows from her displeased expression, "Crona?"

She let out another sigh without notice, "How did you know?"

"You always get those wrinkles there when you think about unpleasant things," Blackstar noted, lifting a hand to poke the spot on her forehead and smoothing the spot with surprising gentleness that caught her off guard, "Ever since we were little."

Maka stifled a quick laugh, "Very perceptive of you," she sobered and nodded her head in the direction she was headed, "I was going to the library. Walk with me?" He shrugged and the two began a steady pace forward.

There were a few beats of silence before Blackstar cleared his throat, "I just want to let you know that I don't agree with Boss either."

Her pigtails bounced as her head snapped up to fix her green orbs on him, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," the boy started, "I understand _why_he's doing it, but I don't think it's the right thing to do."

Maka could feel the corners of her lips tug up into a smile. Aside from Soul, no one else had given her a definite answer. They'd always answered with 'but Shinigami-sama said' and that frustrated her to no end. They all knew Crona, yet they didn't seem to care the way she did. She couldn't make them understand.

Blackstar lifted a hand and scratched the back of his neck, "When I saw Crona before, I almost didn't recognize who it was. There was a definite change in attitude. It's not the Crona that you know that we're going to find, you know that right?"

Her heart dropped to her stomach, "Yes, I know."

"You still intend to try and save Crona from the madness?" Blackstar questioned, "Even if you end up dying over it? Crona is stronger. Not strong enough to defeat me," he added with his usual boastfulness, but his heart wasn't in it, "But still stronger than he was. If you had trouble defeating Crona without using your own madness, how do you expect to save anyone?"

Pursing her lips, Maka crossed her arms over her chest, "I know this is a gamble. It's life or death for all of us at this point, but I don't care. Crona has done nothing wrong, it's all Medusa's fault. Ruining her own child like that, how could some one _do_that?"

He let out a sigh of his own, "She's a witch, Maka. They don't follow the same rules of humanity that we do."

They stopped in front of the door to the library and Maka gave it a forlorn stare as she replied lowly, "But you can't blame the child for the deeds of the parents." Glancing at him from under her bangs she added, "You should understand that better than anyone, right?"

Blackstar stayed quiet a moment before lifting his head to give Maka a steely look, "I understand. That's why, whatever you decide to do, I'll back you up. If you lose to your own madness, the Great Me will bring you back."

Maka chuckled lowly, "Thanks, I appreciate that."

She gave him a wave and entered the library, leaving Blackstar alone in the hallway. He waited a moment before replying, "Any time, Maka," then turned on his heel and headed back the way they'd come. Even if he had to fight every soul on campus, he would have Maka's back.

It was a brother's duty.

**…...**

Light Note: Yaaay! Hope you guys like it, I kinda just winged the whole thing.


	12. Chapter 12

Soul Eater: Family  
Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: Every time I see the word 'family' I always have a split second where I don't like the spelling of the word and think I've spelled it wrong... Yeah. Anyway, this came up to me while I was looking it up in the dictionary in one of my 'double check' moments.

Enjoy!

**. . . . . .**

Maka read the description low under her breath, "One, a group of individuals living under one roof and under one head. Two, a group of persons of common ancestry. Three, a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation. Four, a group of things related by common characteristics."

She skimmed the rest of the entries before letting out a slow sigh.

There'd been a nagging question at the back of her mind for a few days now. She'd casually thrown the word out there to Blackstar a few months back, but hadn't really given the simile any thought aside from comforting the enraged ninja meister. Since then, the simile had taken root in every one's mind. Soon enough they were cracking jokes about Tsubaki acting like a mom. Kid was that 'one uncle' - though Maka was a little lost on the hilarity of that one - Liz was the older sister, Patty was the baby, and Soul had somehow found himself in the position of 'father figure.'

That one in and of itself a bad idea, but her weapon pushed the point anyway and jokingly acted like her real father, earning the boy a swift Maka-Chop to the skull.

Now while their new familial labels created some laughter, Maka wasn't the type who could really leave well enough alone and thought about the legitimacy of their little family.

This all leading up to the question that was even now voicing itself in the back of her mind;

What made a family?

She had a family herself, but that didn't lead her to much of an epiphany seeing as she came from what was labeled as a broken family. Her mother being somewhere in the world, exploring things and expanding her horizons and her father, well. Spirit never grew up from his youth, Maka liked to belief, and was still stuck in the mind set that he was a young, unmarried, twenty something with a whole life ahead of him instead of the reality of his being a divorced thirty something with a teenage daughter who despised his lack of moral code.

Soul wasn't any better really to draw knowledge from. Aside from the fact that he had a brother, the scythe weapon refused to talk about his family life. Maka suspected that this meant a certain lack of love for his biological family unit, which would make his acceptance of their makeshift family understandable. Compared to his idea of 'cool,' acting like the father figure to a rampaging, temper tantrum queen, Patty was definitely the farthest action the blond could come up with.

Speaking of Patty, and therefore speaking of Liz as well, the two didn't talk about their life in Brooklyn. Maka knew they'd been abandoned and grew up living rough lives than she would have been able to survive through. Maka was a trooper, but she was spoiled otherwise. Other than that, she didn't know anything. She wasn't positive they did either. The hearts of the sister's were now softened by friendship, but some scars never leave.

Nobody knew who Kid's mother was, but despite that, the respect for his father is undeniable. She couldn't think of a time when the boy pouted though, and that lead Maka to wonder about any warmth between father and son. There's obvious respect and unspoken love, but love withers unless given air to grow. She was afraid there was so much left unspoken that the relationship wasn't as desirable as either hoped.

Tsubaki would have had the most normal childhood. Aside from the battle with her brother, Maka couldn't recall the girl mentioning anything bad about her family. That probably is what allowed her to be the calming motherly type. Or taking care of Blackstar every day. That earns the one who never gives up a lot of patience points.

Then there was Blackstar. Despite his background and unlike the others, he grew up with a makeshift family. Maka and Kid had their fathers, Soul drew away from his family of his own volition, Liz and Patty had each other and Tsubaki was well loved in her family. But Blackstar only had those around him after being brought here. While he was firm on the point that his clan got what they deserved for their actions, Maka refused to believe in the hardened act he plays regarding family. The quickness in which he clung to her simile stood and proof to that.

As she played out the pieces in her mind, Maka let out another sigh and pushed her bangs back from her face. She'd been sitting in the library for some time now, and her stomach rumbled quietly, to which she blushed and looked around. The library was all but abandoned except for the young meister. Pushing her chair back, she stood and closed the dictionary. Maka set it back in its place and looked around.

What made a family?

They lived under different roofs. With different ideals and convictions. Different outlooks, terperaments, they were all so different. So what made them a family?

The soft click of a door shutting brought her out of her reverie, and she turned to see Tsubaki standing at the door with a plate of something covered by colorful plastic wrap. Maka smiled at her friend and the two drew back to the table to sit. The black haired beauty silently uncovered the food to show a few rice balls, perfectly crafted into the signature triangles, albeit one that was off to the side and shaped like... Well Maka didn't want to really think about what it was shaped like for fear of losing her appetite.

Noticing her stare, Tsubaki chuckled, "Blackstar may be good at a lot of things, but rice ball making isn't one of them."

Smiling herself, Maka picked up the boy's concoction and took a bite, "Still tastes good. How'd you know I was here?"

Her companion leaned her arms on the table top, "Soul saw Blackstar on his run and mentioned you weren't home yet. I guess Soul was on his way home from the convenience store. Either way, Blackstar returned and figured if you weren't home, you'd be here."

Maka gave her own chuckle, "And who's idea was the food?"

"Mine," her friend replied with a smirk, knowing what Maka was implying, "But Blackstar proclaimed that it would be an honor for you to, and this I quote, 'feast on the bounty born from the blood and sweat of the great Me's hardships,' and then proceeded to make _that_," Tsubaki finished, motioning with a tilt of her chin to the ambiguously shaped rice ball Maka was eating.

The blonde gave the rice ball another once over and shrugged, "It's the thought that counts."

"Fair enough," Tsubaki chuckled and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "What brings you to the library this late anyway?"

She sighed and gave her friend a shrug, "I've been mulling over a question for a while now and I just can't come up with an adequate answer. I was hoping to find some insight here but," Maka flicked a hand towards a large stack of books on the table to her left, "Nothing fit right."

Taking up a rice ball herself, the dark arm weapon took a bite and viewed her friend with interest, "The question being?"

Maka took a moment to take another satisfying bite of food before continuing, "What makes a family?" The blond blinked and turned, "I guess you would be the one to ask. Earlier I was thinking about every one's stories and only focused on the incomplete ones."

Tsubaki let a soft look come to her features, and Maka could see why she was one of the school's higher ranked beauties by the boys, "That's easy. Maka, we're a family because we are. There doesn't have to be logic behind it."

"When you told Blackstar we were a family, it was to soothe him. That is exactly right. We support each other, trust each other, have their backs, and I may be a little presumptuous, but we love each other," Tsubaki reached out and casually wiped a grain of rice from the other's face, "That's the most important part. You don't need blood ties to be a family. There just has to be love."

Maka blinked a few times and slowly put her rice ball down. Love? Had such a simple answer been staring her in the face this whole time?

"Ah, I knew you'd still be here," a boisterous voice called from the entrance, and Maka turned around to instinctively hush it, "Oh come off it, no one else is here," Blackstar complained as he stepped aside to let Soul through the door.

The scythe meister furrowed her brow, "It's the principal of the matter."

"Principals are for squares. The Great Me has no need for things like that," the ninja meister boasted, "But more importantly, how was my rice ball? Amazing, right? I knew you'd feel honored, so I had to come see your face for myself."

Blanking her face of emotions, Maka retorted, "It was horrible."

"What?" the boy shouted, "Impossible, your taste buds must be dead!"

She crossed her arms and turned her head away as she replied, "Nope, it was absolutely horrible. No taste what so ever."

This gave him confusion as he rebutted, "But Tsubaki made the rice. I just made the ball."

Flashing him a joking look, Maka laughed, "I guess you're hands must have tainted it!"

"Why you!" Blackstar cried and reached forward to pull her into a head lock. The girl squealed in displeasure as he distributed the punishment of one noogie as he laughed. Soul pulled himself along side the seated Tsubaki, who was promptly ignoring the seen before them and continuing to eat her own rice ball.

Soul sighed and sat down, "Why does it always have to be like this? Aren't you the least bit exhausted?"

Tsubaki just shook her head and smiled, "It's only natural for them to tease each other. It's what siblings do." The scythe weapon just sighed and grabbed up a rice ball to watch the scene play out.

Maka was annoyed, but couldn't stop her giggling as Blackstar's knuckles dug into the top of her scalp, mussing up her hair as he shouted for her to take back the insult to his hard work.

And in that moment she felt it; the incomparable, undeniable, unbidden feeling of love. It wasn't the heart thumping, pulse racing kind. But a warmth that grew outward from her heart to encompass her whole body and soul. A feeling like having a safety net below you as you tiptoe across a high wire. This is what Tsubaki was talking about.

This is what made a family; their family.

**. . . . . .**

Light Note: I hope you guys liked this chapter. I love how it came out! I'm sorry I don't update very often, but all you reviewers give me a lot of love and support in all your reviews and for watching the story, adding it to your favorites, etc. I get a smile on my face every time I see an email waiting for me. You all are fantastic.

Light of Heaven


	13. Chapter 13

Soul Eater: Family  
Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: This chapter was inspired loosely from the recent moon arc. Kid mentions Maka isn't there so he can't use his insanity form for very long because he needs her wavelength as support. I thought this would be an interesting idea. Also, I haven't forgotten you guys, life has just been rearing its head at me.

Hope you like it!

…**...**

It was a roar that shook Maka to her bones. She could feel herself wavering in fear, trying desperately to push her feet to make that next step, to pull herself closer to the source of that anguishing madness.

Soul felt heavy in her hands, and she could hear him question her sudden slow pace, she'd been dashing through the streets only a moment before, but she couldn't make her mouth work the words around an answer. She knew that cry;

It was madness.

Her body's natural reaction to preserve her life had kicked it when that sound reached her ears. Every fiber of her being was screaming at the top of their lungs at her; _Do not go._

Still, she pushed herself forward, shook the fear from her mind and started down the street at a faster pace. Block by block, drawing them closer to the centre of the madness. There was only one reason for her to even come this far.

As they broached the courtyard through the alley way they'd taken, Soul regained his human form and made a grab to stop Maka, but she was already bolting forward. The scene before her made her quiver with a renewed sense of fear.

Blackstar was losing himself to his madness.

She'd never seen the ninja meister like this. She'd heard from Tsubaki what it had been like, but had never had to see it. He'd managed to control it after that, a fact that made the male seem more mature than before. Maka, however, knew more than anyone that madness doesn't just go away. It lurks in the hidden corners of your mind and waits for you to loosen your hold. It waits for the moment you say, "I can't." to turn to you and say, "But with me, you can."

That's what the blond haired girl was most afraid of. One moment of weakness was all it took.

He was standing with his arms thrown out and his head tilted back as he let out another yell. The sound of madness bounced off the walls and to her ears, and she cast a worried glance back at Soul before pushing herself the last few feet to Blackstar's side.

She didn't know what she was doing. She didn't need to be close or touching to use her wavelength to calm him down, but something was moving her to its own accord and before she knew it Maka had wrapped her arms around her friend's neck.

_Think healing thoughts, think healing thoughts,_ Maka repeated in her head, though she highly doubted this was going to work in her favor. Marie was the only one she knew of that could use the Healing Wavelength, but the blonde felt she had to try. Blackstar deserved that much.

The male instinctively pushed at her but she held on tight. She could do this. She had to, "Blackstar get ahold of yourself!" Maka called futilely. She heard a concerned Soul cry her name, but Maka pushed the voice from her head. She couldn't doubt. She had to do this. Even if it didn't work, she had to.

But soon there was a break in the madness that hummed through the air. His arms pulled around her to return the hug and Maka gripped him tighter, "Calm down, everyone is here. Tsubaki is fine. We're all fine." A small gasp was brought to her ears attention and she pulled her head back to look at a wide eyed Blackstar, "Are you...?"

He paused a moment as if to reflect inward, "Yeah," he breathed, and glanced down at her, "I think I'm okay." She beamed at him and he gave her a quick thankful squeeze before both ran over to Tsubaki's side, who was now in the care of Soul.

"Good job," Soul said with a slight smile, and to Blackstar laughed, "Welcome back idiot. What kind of god lets himself get overcome by madness?"

The ninja meister shrugged and gripped Tsubaki's hand as she gave him a weak smile to show she was okay, "Well..." He mulled it over before snorting a laugh, "An angry one."

…**...**

Light Note: Not as good as some of the others, but I hope you'll forgive me! I'll try to do at least one chapter a month to get myself back into the swing of things. We'll see how things go! Anyway, like always, review and show me you love me! If you have ideas or a sibling/family story of your own you'd like to share, please don't hesitate to tell me!

Light of Heaven


	14. Chapter 14

Soul Eater: Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: HAHA! Not dead. Not yet. Must continue on for all you wonderful people that shower me with news! For those of you interesting in not just the story, but my writing itself, I do want to do a self plug and say I have a tumblr now where I post prose and poetry about my life, and another where I'm planning to post snippets of an original story I'm working on! It's ophiali dot tumblr dot com, come find me!

Without further ado, prompt this chapter is from **Traffic9991**, sort of. The prompt was a younger sibling outsmarting an older one, and I may use that later, but this is what immediately came to mind.

Enjoy!

**. . . . . .**

Maka giggled and everyone turned to stare. Not because they were surprised, but because given the current situation, the show of mirth was a little, more a lot, out of place. She realized this quickly, she was always a bright girl, and covered her mouth.

Blackstar and Kid were glaring at her, and Soul was shaking his head. Behind her the other girls were all giving the blonde inquiring looks, but she smiled and held out her hand, "Sorry, continue."

"No," Kid drawled and placed a hand on his hip as he turned to face her, "I'm curious now. What do you find so amusing?"

She shook her head and held up her hands in compliance, "Nothing really that important. As you were."

Now Blackstar turned his attention to her and crossed his arms, "We're not going to finish this until you tell us."

"Guys, really," Maka pushed, "It isn't that life changing, I just had a funny thought."

Liz raised an eyebrow and piped in, "A funny thought in the middle of Blackstar and Kid's morning fight?" Maka giggled again and Liz raised the other brow too, "Ah, so it is about them."

"Is it a gay joke?" Patti pitched in with a scary gleam in her eyes, and the two male meisters gave her a shifty glance and took a step back in unison, "What? You know what they say about angry-"

"It didn't have to do with that!" Maka broke in with a pinking to her cheeks, "It was a normal thought. Depending on how linear your thinking is. And then again you'd have to know the general story to understand why it's funny so even if I explain, there's a chance you won't understand so..." she trailed off and glanced down at the pair of boys, having lifted her eyes to the sky as she rambled. They weren't amused.

Glancing away again she muttered, "I was wondering if it would be inappropriate if I called Blackstar 'Lucifer' as a nickname."

Said meister crooked an eyebrow, "Lucifer?"

Kid snorted in an undignified manner and gave Maka a knowing look, "Ah, I think that actually works."

"Right?" replied the girl, coming to life now that someone else was in on the joke.

Everyone else chorused a version of, "I don't get it." to which Kid shook his head.

"Basically, Lucifer sought to become greater than God, and so fell to hell," Maka simplified, and gave the ninja a wink, "Sound familiar?"

The boy pouted as everyone got the joke and began to join in the mirth, "I don't think it's funny. I don't plan to fall anywhere."

Grinning wide, Maka nudged her childhood friend in the side, "Well if you fall, we'll catch you!"

"Jeez Maka," he whine surprisingly, "Could you get any cheesier?"

Soul blanched, "Don't tempt her idiot!"

Everyone laughed except Maka this time, but that was alright. Cheesy or not, it was true.

**. . . . . . **

Light Note: Bahaha, so cheesy. Couldn't help it. I hope you guys liked this chapter and that you stay with me for another month while I work on getting out the next one. All of you rock, sorry I'm such a lamer! Review so I know you love me! Haha, just kidding.

Also, just an FYI; from now on I will be going by the name Ophiali. Light of Heaven has been my pen name since I was in 8th grade, and I'm far from that person now, so I felt the change was necessary! It's still me, no worries!

Ophiali


	15. Chapter 15

Soul Eater: Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: Alright! Let's get started, no time for pleasantries today. On to the chapter! (But you guys still rock, as always.)

Enjoy!

**. . . . . .**

He didn't note the look of shock that came over her face as he reached his hand over and plucked up one of her pens. He was too absorbed in trying to decipher what the heck this homework meant to see that she was gaping at him and then the aforementioned pen, then back to him with a look of almost fear on her face.

There wasn't really any reason to notice. It was a pen, no big deal, no harm done. Which lead to his confusion when Maka finally found her voice, _and her book_, and stopped him with a scream and a deftly placed Maka Chop to the skull, "Not that pen!"

"Ha?" Blackstar grimaced as he held up the small pink pen and actually looked at it. The eraser was shaped like a strange bunny thing that only Maka would think was cute. He eyeballed it and then the owner, "Why not this pen?"

Blushing, she made a rushed snatch at it, but he lifted it above her head and she grabbed at only air, "That is none of your business. Just use a different one."

"What is so special about this pen that I can't use it?" he questioned again, narrowing one eye at her curiously. She was acting oddly possessive of a stupid ugly pen. The blonde refused to answer him with words, but gave him a narrowed glare and pursed lips look back. Her fingers were flexing with the urge to try and nab her pen back, and he raised an eyebrow and his eyes flicked up to the item in his hand, "Did someone buy this for you?"

Maka let out a frustrated growl of a sigh, "If you must know, yes."

"Soul?" the ninja inquired instantly, a bit of a protective edge to his words and that brought out her own eyebrow raise and her hands to her hips, "Well I'm just curious. Soul and I are buddies, it's not like him to go out of his way to shower a girl with gifts."

She laughed a bit at that, "One, I am not 'some girl' though, I am his partner. Two, no it wasn't Soul. Three, that doesn't even matter because he buys things for me all the time anyway."

Blackstar gave the girl a once over, "Buying you groceries doesn't count." Her face flushed and she smacked his arm as hard as she could and made another attempt to reclaim her pen, "Seriously, this is the ugliest pen I have ever seen. Why do you even have it?"

"I know it's ugly, but that's not the point!" Maka cried and crossed her arms, "It's the thought that counts. That makes it precious." Slamming her heel onto the ground, she narrowed him with a glare, "So give it back."

Sensing that this wasn't going to go anywhere interesting, Blackstar handed back the item without another word and watched as she placed it carefully above her notebook before sitting and reviewing her notes. He pointed to a different one and smiled, "Does this one have any special intentions behind it, or is it safe?"

"You are horrible," was her response, and he picked up the plain black pen and began to scrawl some annotations to his homework. Of course, annotations for Blackstar were things like 'the hell does this even mean?' and 'stupid homework is stupid' but at least he was reading it in the first place.

After a beat, the scythe meister put down her pencil and straightened up. His attention perked and he turned his head to look at her and his childhood friend sighed, "My mother bought it for me. She sends gifts every once in awhile but," Maka gazed down at the pen, "I wonder about her taste in things."

He made a noise in his throat and she shifted herself to look back at him, "Definitely the thought that counts. What is it exactly?"

Maka let out a quick giggle, "I think it's a zombie bunny."

"A zombie bunny?" Blackstar chortled, "Who would even want one of those things?"

She shrugged, "Mom's letter said they were all the rage where she was. Meaning we have more people's taste to question than is healthy."

"Well," the boy started, "Again... It's the thought that counts."

**. . . . . .**

Light Note: I always hated when I would tell my brothers not to use something and they _always_ had to question why not. Geeze! Can't a girl have her secrets? Haha, hope you guys liked it! I'll keep up as long as I can on these, but you have to keep reviewing to tell me you still want them!

Also, update on the tumblr thing if you're interested, I put in the wrong thing. My tumblr page is called Inked Up Hands. Hope to see some of you over there!

Ophiali


	16. Chapter 16

Soul Eater: Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: Ophiali! Haha, I have to get used to being that on here. Alright, so new chapter and I wanted to reward you all with something long instead of the short drabbles I've been throwing out. So I spent long and hard on tumblr, going through Soul Eater pictures for inspiration and came up with this! Hope you guys like it and it doesn't disappoint.

Enjoy!

**. . . . . .**

"I haven't done anything like this before," Kid blurted out randomly and his two companions glanced over from the TV set to give him a hard look, "I'm just saying. This is something new to me, so what exactly are we supposed to be doing?"

Blackstar pursed his lips in thought and then shrugged, "Uh, actually I don't really know either. Soul?"

The scythe weapon rose a brow, "I've never really had guy friends before, so we're in the same boat."

Kid hung his head, and the other two followed suit, "So we were banished to Soul's apartment with the mission of having a 'guy's night' and we don't even know what we're supposed to do."

"I think that about sums it up," Soul chuckled and threw his arms over the back of the couch.

As Kid had said, Maka was nowhere to be found in the small apartment. After an extremely stressful mission she'd stated plainly that she needed 'girl time' and that she'd be at Tsubaki's place, which meant kicking Blackstar out to hang with Soul in the meantime. Kid had been coerced into joining after being told by Liz and Patty that he was more than welcome to sit at home bored and alone.

Blackstar crossed his arms and leaned back, "Should we beat each other up or something?"

"As, er, appealing as that sounds," Soul started, looking pained at the idea of unnecessary roughness, "I think Maka had other things in mind when she said guy night." His fellow males gave him mild glares showing their opinions and Soul sighed, "This is tougher than it sounds."

Soul grabbed up the remote control again and resumed his earlier flipping through the channels. The silence that hung in the air was almost touchable to the point that Kid pulled nervously at his collar. They'd never seemed to have had such trouble with being alone together before this, but then again, none of them could actually recall a moment when it was truly just the three of them. The only similar topic of conversation they had for them were their female companions and Shibusen. What were they to do?

"Hi, my name is Johnny and whatever you do, don't be idiots like these guys," the voice from the television stated in a giddy voice as screams of intense pain went on behind him. Three pairs of eyes turned slowly to the set as they watched a group of five guys surf through a hallway of balloons. Soul turned to look at Blackstar, who shifted his gaze to Kid, who shook his head vehemently at the pair.

"No. No, no, no. This is a bad idea. They just said don't try this at home!" Kid shouted in response to the look of crazed glee his two friends were adopting, "I am not going to let you use my board for this kind of debauchery!"

The ninja meister stood and leaped over the couch so he could wrap an arm lazily around his friend's shoulders, "Two points. The first is that they didn't say that in so many words. They just said don't be idiots. If we don't biff it, we're not idiots. Problem solved."

Soul lifted himself to his feet and paced comically across the living room, "Secondly, don't think of this as debauchery. This of this as guy's night out shenanigans."

Freezing slightly, Kid admitted, "I do like the word shenanigans."

"I like committing shenanigans," Blackstar agreed with a devilish grin sneaking its way onto his face.

"Shenanigans are fun," Soul inputted.

The awkward silence made a return while the three of them sat. What they were waiting for exactly, they weren't sure, so they continued to hold their poses until Kid tentatively spoke, "I guess I'll go get my board?"

"I'll make sure the coast is clear at the school," added Blackstar as they all began to get up and move about finally.

Soul nodded and headed for Maka's room, "I'll get the camera."

"Wait, camera?" the death god raised an eyebrow in question, "We're actually going to record ourselves doing this?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Soul ran a hand through his hair, "Like Blackstar said, all we have to do is not fall and hurt ourselves and there's really no problem. Since that's the goal, why not bring the camera? It's not like we'll end up embarrassing ourselves."

"God I hope that doesn't turn into foreshadowing," Kid groaned as Blackstar and he headed for the door, Soul soon in pursuit with Maka's small video camera in hand.

The weapon and meister pair regrouped with Kid soon after arriving at the school. The building was a foreboding sight during the day, but the darkness of night gave it an even eerier appearance, lit only by the few lights on the outside of the building and by the light of the moon. The school seemed a dangerous place for three teenage boys to sneak into so that they could mess around with a packet of balloons that Soul had picked up on the way over and the skateboard that was tucked under Kid's arm.

"Are we sure we want to do this?" Kid questioned his companions as Blackstar made a show of checking that the coast was clear, "I mean, we still have to blow up all of the balloons. That's going to take forever and Father is in the school building still so it's not unlikely that we'll get caught before we even get the chance to try anything."

Soul shrugged, "Worth a shot. This is better than sitting at my place doing nothing and being awkward."

"He's got a point," the ninja meister chipped in as he joined his friend's sides, "I don't see anyone so far. If we're going to do this, now's the time."

Exchanging looks, the three boys shared a quick nod before they trio scrambled through the entryway Blackstar had located and began rushing through the hallways. The general plan was to find an empty classroom to use while they hid and filled the balloons, which they would then transfer to the hallway and commence balloon surfing.

Checking doors as they passed, they finally found an unlocked one and quickly piled into it. Soul had picked up a pack of balloons on the way over, and he pulled them out of his pocket and tossed them to the ninja meister, "You're filled with a lot of hot air, so you get to blow up the balloons. Kid, you are the best we got at Soul Perception, so you concentrate on nobody sneaking up on us and flash your Shinigami badge at anyone who does."

"I don't have a badge like that," Kid retorted and Soul flashed him a pained look, "Oh, it was a joke. Right." the male moved to the door and began concentrating, while Blackstar stared blatantly at Soul with daggers in his eyes.

The scythe weapon rolled his own ruby orbs before fixing his friend with a likewise stare, "What is it now?"

"Why do I have to blow up all the balloons?" Blackstar whined slightly.

Soul shrugged, "I already said, it's because you have the most hot air. Blowing up balloons is a job for a cool guy like me. Being the cameraman is cool." The blunette deadpanned, "What?"

"Get over here and blow up some balloons or I'll show you the reason why I'm the man who will overcome God," he said plainly, with surprisingly little inflection in his voice for the normally boisterous teen. Soul paused a moment to gauge his friend before deciding the better option was to help him with his job.

A half hour later they were finally done, and Soul was glad because he was now out of breath. Like he'd anticipated, Blackstar wasn't, and was jumping up and down reading to go, "Let's get these bad boys into the hallway!" He was kicking them up in the air as he spoke, and Soul grabbed one and threw it jokingly at his face.

"Quit that, you'll make us lose some," the silver haired teen explained as he and Kid began to corral the balloons into the hallway. That itself took them another ten minutes, due to Blackstar thinking that he could just run and they would all follow him into the hallway, and then because he thought that if he just flung his hands in front of him he could create wind that would lead them outside. Also because he thought that picking them all up one by one was a good idea, but then walking back to get another and pushing three more back into the classroom.

"I'm starting to wonder if this is worth the trouble," Soul groaned out as the last balloon finally entered the hallway and Kid closed the classroom door behind them.

Kid was the one to place his hands on his hips and fix Soul with a devilish glare, "You've already made us come this far, I am not going to let you turn around and back out of this now. You go first Mr. This-Will-Be-So-Much-Fun."

Soul let out a sigh. Kid had a point, this had been mostly his idea. He grabbed the skateboard the death god was holding out for him and looked despondently at their hallway of multicolored balloons. He suddenly had the image of Maka's face, her brows furrowed down and her lips pursed in displeasure as she scolded him by saying, "What in the world gave you the impression this was a good idea?" Touche, Mind-Maka; touche.

Nonetheless, he placed the board on the top of the balloons where their 'ocean' started and backed up a few paces like they'd watched the guys on the television do. He counted to three in his mind and bolted forward, leaping up at the last second to slam his feet firmly onto the board. His momentum quickly sent the board flying, and in another flash of genius, he remembered, albeit a little too late, the law of physics they'd been learning in class.

The board was now in motion. He was not.

The scythe quickly lost his footing as the board zoomed out from under him and he landed painfully onto the pile of balloons, popping ones where his weight had hit harder. Blackstar busted up laughing almost immediately, and Kid was soon joining him, "Oh, shut up, the both of you."

Kid wasn't even attempting to hide his mirth as he informed his fallen friend, "I told you we would get hurt. Didn't I say that was going to happen? I did, didn't I? Man, I am smart."

"You especially. Shut your mouth, just shut it," Soul complained as he gingerly sat up, "I think I broke my tailbone." He was answered with silence at first, and then another round of laughter courtesy of his friends. Scowling, he pushed to his feet and massaged the area where he'd landed, "Let's get out of here before someone catches us. I'm done. That was so not cool."

Nodding, Blackstar held up the camera, "I got it on tape. This will be hilarious tomorrow."

"Maybe for you," his friend countered. They heard a voice calling out down the hall and froze, "Shit, run!"

The three quickly scrambled back the way they'd come and flew down the street with the sound of their laughter as the only evidence they'd been there at all.

Well, laughter... And the balloons.

Light Note: And that concludes that. I was going to put in Maka's reaction, but decided against it. Hope it was to everyone's liking! I figured since the girls had their bonding time over picking on Blackstar, the boys should have some bonding too! And what better way for men to bond then hurt themselves?

Anyway, still self plugging here, but if you want to read any of my non-fanfic stuff, go to inkeduphands dot tumblr dot com or exploringadalia dot tumbrl dot com and follow me! See you guys next month!

Ophiali


	17. Chapter 17

Soul Eater: Family

Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: Hey-o everyone! Another month another chapter! I'll wind this up quickly so you can get on to reading. I've left you waiting a while after all! Thank you all so much as always, and enjoy.

. . . . . .

Shaking; down to her bones and deeper then, she couldn't stop shaking.

She didn't want to be showing weakness. That was the last thing she wanted to give everyone as their last moment of her; scared and shaking with tears falling down her face like rivers. Not even in a beautifully sad way, but the type of crying that leaves you sore from the body racking sobs that leave you nothing but a snotty childish mess. No, she didn't want that at all. She was scared, yes, but she still had her pride. And damn if she would let something like this ruin that.

The eyes of her friends watched her, their voices muffled by her pain; intense dizziness that left her stunned and breathless, giving her cries a wheezing sound.

Maka couldn't get over how much she did not want them seeing her like this; Tsubaki, so sweet and forthcoming, motherly and beautiful. Liz and Patti, so broken but so enticing, strong and scarred. Or Kid, stuck in his own world but ever reaching for the hand of another. Soul, tortured, battered and bruised by the shadow of his own self. Or Black Star, bigger in heart than any of them, so fearless, so brave. He of all people, she did not want to see her break.

Hard pack ground beneath her reminded her to be steady; she shifted her weight and lifted her head. He was still standing there, so bored with himself, so entertained by the mundane and not even seeing her at all. He infuriated her with a madness different from what came off him in waves. This wasn't insanity she felt, but rage; pure and unadulterated. He was making a fool of her, and she hated that as much as her crying face, her weak body, her weaker nerve. She couldn't beat him and he knew that. He knew, so he was toying with her, to see how long it would take before she broke.

She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

Hands suddenly lifted her fully to her feet, so many hands that her mind couldn't wrap itself around the faces she was seeing, the words she was hearing. Blackstar on her left, Soul on her right; both telling her that she wasn't alone in this.

"Sometimes we fall," Soul said to her as he glared metaphorical daggers into Asura's direction. She laughed mentally, somewhere deep in her subconscious and thought, 'Ah, if only looks could kill.' He was looking at her then, and she focused so dearly onto his face, "But that's what we're here for."

Blackstar nodded to Tsubaki, and she turned into a katana, "When you fall, we catch you." Maka felt that turning her head was like moving through molasses, but she found the ninja's face and gave him a smile, "So sit here, shut up, and let us help you for a change."

Suddenly Liz and Patti rushed past her, followed a millisecond later by a ferocious looking Kid. The sisters quickly transformed and were caught by Kid all in one single fluid motion. Maka appreciated their ability, she knew they were strong too. Yes, she trusted these people with her life, but with even more than that. She trusted them with more than she'd even known.

Her heart, her secrets, her anger, her humility, her broken self; all of it was already known to these people, these friends that had become more to her that just comrades. Soul's hand crushed hers with worry. She winced slightly, but gave him a firm squeeze, happy to finally feel something other than the dull throbbing from her wounds.

And then it was there. She felt it blossom from within her and spread through her core like the warm tendrils of the sun; her strength. It was there, in the bonds formed by her friends, her _family_, strong as steel, as untouchable as a diamond. It had been hidden in the rough dirt of her fear, but their words had been like soft brushes excavating it from the darkness. She held it now, in the safety of her heart. It was solid, it was strong; it was part of what made her.

Yes, that's right.

Maka did not like showing weakness, but there was no shame in it. She would wear it like a pin on her sleeve and march steadfast into the fray. Because for all her worries, she remembered now that it didn't matter. They felt just the same as she, always putting up barricades to their true selves, only for someone else to break them down. So there was no more need, Maka could see that now.

"Soul," she hissed out, and he clutched at her elbow desperately, "I'm fine. Transform; we're going in."

The boy shook his head in response, "Maka, I don't think that's the best idea. Actually, that's the worst idea you had since a few minutes ago when you rushed in ahead of everyone and got your ass beat." His brow was drawn down with a sense of intense caring that he was trying to convey to her with his harsh words, but they were falling on deaf ears as Maka was grinning stupidly from ear to ear.

"Hey, what's life without a little adventure?" She asked him, but his face did not look as amused as she felt. Reaching out, she smoothed the patch of skin between his brows and leaned forward to give it a sweet kiss, "If we don't, we'll have to hear Blackstar's rendition of how it was all thanks to his Greatness that we were able to defeat him, over and over and over. Do you really want that?"

Soul flashed a cautious look, "And you're positive you're fine?"

"As sure as sure can be," came her rebuttal. Smiling gently, she cupped his cheek with her hand. This of course elicited a flinch from him, but she looked past that as it was certainly out of character for her, but basically being high on pain can do that to you, "I'm fine."

Covering her hand with his own, he nodded and transformed without another word. Maka deftly spun him between fingers, around her body and into the air; like playing with an old toy, this was a sensation she would never forget. The weight of Soul was familiar, and it filled her with a calm so sweet it was almost sickening. Steeling her nerves, she once again shifted her weight and lifted her head to see Asura; still standing as if bored and easily fending off their attacks. This was all but a suicide mission, but that didn't matter anymore, "Alright, let's go."

Because even in death, she would never be alone.

**. . . . . .**

Light Note: Sorry to be going back to the shorter blurbs so soon, but other stories are taking up some of my attention at the moment. Still, I hope you liked the chapter enough to shoot me a review, and as always, if you have a story about you and a sibling, be sure to send me a PM or what have you! I love the prompts!

Ophiali


	18. Chapter 18

Soul Eater: Family  
Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: A big thank you to **MomoPeachFlower** for this prompt and the amusing story behind it. As always I appreciate every email I get saying someone subscribed or reviewed. It brightens my day, so thank you.

Enjoy!

**. . . . . .**

Blackstar could not believe what he was hearing, "Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight. You're getting mad at me because I broke your computer on accident? Maka, it's not like I meant to do it!"

"We were rough housing around," Soul started to explain, but Maka brought the hand up that held her hefty tome and the scythe weapon quickly fell silent.

The blond took in a slow breath and let it out in a sigh that exemplified all of her feelings at that moment. She was humoring him in explaining why she was angry. She affirmed that with the calm, flat tone she used as she spoke, "The reason behind it being accidental or not doesn't change the fact that my computer has been smashed into pieces, making me lose some important files for school." She paused to purse her lips a moment before continuing, "Now I have to take time out of my day to take it down to a shop to see if there isn't _something_ I can salvage from it, get an estimate on a _new_ computer which you will be paying for, I'd like to add" - the ninja said nothing and gave a curt nod when she narrowed her eyes at him "and, oh yes. I have to clean up this mess."

The aforementioned mess was quite a sight to behold. Soul and Blackstar had somehow managed to break three of the four posts off of her bed frame, crack her mirror into seven strangely perfect pieces, bend the legs of her chair so it now leaned, and, of course, break her computer. And they didn't just break it. They 'accidentally' destroyed it. The skeleton of what once was her desktop was now a mashup of computer parts littering the floor of her torn up bedroom. Not something Maka had wanted to come home to after a long day of dealing with her father at her mother's bewildering request.

Soul raised his hand slowly and suggested, "I can clean up the mess if you want."

The girl shook her head, "No, I think you've done enough damage to my room, thank you very much." The boys shrunk down under the resigned tone she was giving them. It was almost scarier than any anger she'd shown. She was just...done. She moved to the kitchen, the pair of boys trailing behind her to stand awkwardly in the living room as she got out the broom, swept up the plastic debris, dumped it into the garbage, and began picking up the bed posts.

Broaching the meister with caution, Blackstar asked warily, "What kind of computer do you want?" He didn't have a way with electronics the way the other kids did, so he would probably have to ask Kid what he was looking for, much to his chagrin. Still, his back remembered the last time he pissed off this particular female, and he didn't want to find himself in another situation where Maka was wearing a monocle.

Without even stopping in her cleaning, Maka stated simply, "A very expensive one."

The ninja hung his head at her words. Of course she'd want an expensive one, who was he thinking that she was going to make anything like this easy on him? Personal possessions were of some high importance to girls. He did think that if his favorite kunai ever got lost he'd flip a bitch, but the likelihood of something happening to it was low because that was a gift from Tsubaki and he was very protective of it. However, the blue haired teen couldn't really say that a special kunai and a computer were the same, but he figured there was more than just 'important school files' that lived on the device which would warrant more of the response he was getting.

After a spell of silence filled the apartment, during which Maka made a rudimentary sweep of her room and the boys sat themselves awkwardly on the couch, still waiting for some form of explosion to come from the petite blond, Maka emerged with a satisfied look on her face and walked over to stand in front of the pair, "Now that I've calmed down and cleaned, why don't you tell me what exactly you were doing that resulted in the damage seen today? Hm?"

Exchanging quick looks to determine who would speak first, Soul started with a leery, "Well, even though you told us not to..."

"We were watching the daredevil show again," Blackstar continued, just as wary of his friend, "And before you know it we started thinking that the stunts couldn't be that hard."

Soul tried to justify the sentence by adding, "I mean, look at all the crazy stuff we do on a daily basis." Maka gave him a stern gaze, and he found his way back to their explanation, "So there was one about throwing your friend and having them catch onto a pole and keep spinning..."

Maka deadpanned at that, needing no further prompt to see how everything went down. She now saw the makeshift stripper pole they'd probably acquired through Blair's assistance that was toppled over next to her door. It must have been open, which resulted in Blackstar flying into her room, possibly hitting the bed, breaking the posts as he bounced, and flew off the bed into the desk. She understood the how, but still couldn't wrap her brain around the way.

So instead of trying to figure out the reasoning behind the males sudden need for bodily harm outside of Shibusen work, she instead gave them the pain they were so wanting by whipping out her book and Maka Chopping them both, disappearing into her room with a huff and an eyeroll, stating, "Boys," as she left.

Men were certainly idiots.

**. . . . . .**

Light Note: I always start with a general idea and then just keep writing despite how the idea may change, so it's always interesting to see how the idea was formed and how it translates onto the 'paper' as I write. Anyway, sorry it's short, but this is a bit of a filler chapter for the next one that I'm writing, which will be nice and long as a reward for sticking with me.

Ophiali


	19. Chapter 19

Soul Eater: Family  
Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: I hate to say it, but I _am_ gearing up to wrap this beautiful drabble to a close. School is starting for me finally, and I don't want to disappear again and disappoint you guys. I already have the final chapter written up. So after this next chapter, Family will officially, really truly and finally be over. So take your time, revel in the family love fest, and as always...

Enjoy.

**. . . . . .**

She was starting to wonder if emotional connections were wired differently in a male's brain versus a female's. Emotional connection to objects, pets, and people all seemed to vary depending on the personality archetype, but often if you pulled back from the complexities of a person you still found their gender was the common starting point of most of that person's core personality. The single most defining feature. Some people, Maka knew, didn't agree with their gender, but even that was a factor in their being _because_ of it.

Who was she to say that emotional connection didn't differ due to gender after all? She believed it all started there. From being either a man or a woman you have a stereotypical label placed upon you due to your interactions with other people. You could be the macho man, the cool guy, the crazy dude, the ditsy girl, the mother figure, the mature for her age one, the innocent sweetheart; and even though you're more than that, the act of having a label, even an involuntary one, affects your personality on the basis of whether you try to accept or deny the label.

And the changes go further from there, your personality feeding off of your environment until you have the makeups of the completely unique mind of a human being.

Maka shook her head to clear out the philosophical clutter of her original question. The original question was whether or not she had the ability, if you wanted to call it that, to become emotionally attached to things easier than a male would, simply because she was a girl. The other option to her situation would be that she actually _liked_ the object in particular to a level that would make the attachment absolutely normal to a linear relationship path.

There she was going again, making things sound more complicated than she needed to. Maka was simply questioning her friendship with Blackstar. It wasn't that she had anything more than platonic feelings for him, having seen him as nothing more than a puppy-like brother figure for some time now, but she was starting to get a smidge curious on the reciprocating end of the spectrum; also known as Blackstar's feelings for her.

The blue haired ninja regarded her with the same amusement and idealistic - and sadly realistic - view of his betterment comparatively to her as he did with most everyone else he was close with. One exception possibly being his and Soul's rather _unhealthy_ idea of friendship. Seeing as the two of them doing friend like things usually ended in some form of battery to one or the other, but most of the time both, Maka couldn't really see the two of them as normal. He gave Tsubaki special treatment, either due to their pact as weapon and meister or because of some feelings he was trying to snuff and or accept, Maka didn't have a clue. Then there was the matter of Kid being stronger than him, but for her own ear's safety, she rarely brought that up.

Tsubaki often complained about the male's tenacious assaults, though that sounds a vicious word, on peeking at her in the bath, but she also had more good to say about him than bad, which in itself was a good thing for him. Assuming that he wanted to try anything more than weapon and meister with Tsubaki. Not that she could really give council, seeing as her own relationship with Soul was iffy itself.

The blond ran a hand through her hair and stared down at her desk, her homework sitting there plainly and particularly blank despite the knowledge being in her head. She just didn't have the attention span to put the words on the paper, as other words were clouding up her thought process, leading to her current staring contest with her tabletop. It was often this time of night that she found herself stuck in a rut of internal retrospect, and it seemed that tonight's topic of debate would be on whether Blackstar considered her just a friend, which would make sense being that they _were_ in fact friends, or if she was placed a little more specially in his heart the way he'd seemed to place himself in hers.

Growing up with him had given her a certain advantage to his character. She hadn't been surprised, the day she met Kid, to find Blackstar on the top spike of the school building shouting to the horizon about his plans to be greater than god. By that time, they'd already unspokenly established a connection that would be considered sibling-like, though nothing like what they had, or what Maka was assuming they had, now. The unspoken had continued on into all aspects of their life. The day she actually told Blackstar all of how she felt for him, platonically of course, he had just laughed, clapped her on the back of the shoulder, and informed her grandly that, 'of course she'd think that; who wouldn't want to be in the inner circle of the great me?'

It was a difficult task in itself to get the bright and shining youth to delve into the matter of feelings and attachment. She knew from personal experience that he was the knight type; Strong and bottled up, with an overwhelming need to prove their greatness and to protect those who need it. It wasn't as if the label was a bad one, in fact it made Blackstar the great meister that he was, but it was one that came with roadblocks and trouble for all those 'pages' involved in dealing with the blue haired ninja. Still, she wanted nothing more than to peel at the greatness to expose the wondering child that he refused to admit he was.

Her attempts to ask him thus far had ended poorly on her end with her inability to properly voice the matter that was on her mind. How exactly does one go about asking a friend what level they stand on? The appropriate way is littered with difficulties because if asked incorrectly, their answer could sound less than the truth they themselves have trouble voicing, or it could be the polar opposite where they stress it too much and sounds like favoritism to others. Not that their group really cared about things like favoritism to begin with, but the principal was the same. You had to tread lightly in asking, and think carefully in answering. Hence, while the two had exchanged what could be conceived as answers to the previously mentioned question of their standing, the answers had not been said with definity, and thus were promptly swept under the rug.

That could be a factor in why Maka was having such a headache over the thought now. It was something that had gone unanswered, technically speaking really, for so long that it had begun to metaphorically fester until it was something the blond meister could no longer ignore.

A knock on her door brought her back out of her reverie and she called back entrance to the perpetrator, a disgruntled looking Soul, "Is everything okay?" Maka asked and rolled herself away from her desk, standing and crossing the room to her partner's side. The scythe weapon looked ragged and worn out, and only a little bit annoyed.

"Please, spend time with him. I've been out with him all day and he came back with me because Tsubaki isn't back yet and I think he's lonely but dear god, I am running out of patience and it's not cool," Soul let out lowly in one quick breath, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to where she could see the source of her own problem sitting, fidgeting really, on their small couch pretending to watch the television. She could tell his attention was elsewhere, even though his eyes were trained to the screen.

Maka nodded and gave the teen's shoulder a gentle pat, "I can sit with him until Tsubaki gets home. She's probably out shopping and is hiding her presence. She needs time away from him too," she added when Soul opened his mouth to protest against that fact, "He tries to peek on her everytime she goes to bathe. Soul, she needs time away too."

He let out a heavy sigh, "I know. We're best friends, I mean I like the guy sure, but I feel like I have a tolerance level I didn't know about and he just capped it out."

The girl laughed, and she watched Blackstar visibly twitch towards the sound, "Sure, sure, go cook dinner or something." Giving him a strange looking smile, the meister added, "I could certainly use a break."

The blonde made her way through the mess of their living room to the couch and perched herself on the arm, "Hey."

"Hey," the blue haired ninja replied just as casually, but she smiled as his fidgeting began to cease, "Doing homework? What a book worm." The insult was half assed, and Maka raised a brow at it. He cocked his head in her direction as the realization hit him too and he looked at her suddenly, "I'm having a weird day."

Not knowing what to do with her hands, she brought them up to untangle her hair from the braids she'd put them in and fingered her hair free of knots as she talked, "Weird how? Weird like following Soul home after a day of hanging out? Don't you have a house of your own to go to?"

He froze and began picking at loose threads in the couch, "Yeah. My house," the thought was fragmented and was obviously finished only in his head. Maka knew that pressing issues with Blackstar never got you anywhere, so she waited patiently poised on the arm of the couch as her fellow meister gathered his thoughts into a sensible pile, "Tsubaki isn't home."

"Does that bother you? She goes shopping and hangs out with me all day every once in awhile and you've never had this problem before," the blonde pointed out as she dropped her hands into her lap. His face screwed up in an unidentifiable emotion, "I'm guessing that's a yes."

Working his mouth a few times, Blackstar sighed and scratched at his head, "I don't know what's gotten into me, but I don't like it." He squirmed around on the seat like something gross was touching him, and Maka suppressed a laugh as he added, "I feel...strange."

Trying to bite back the comment that he was _always_ strange, Maka said instead, "Don't you think it's pretty obvious what the problem is? Or are you really that dense to anything outside of your own head?"

"Oi!" he snapped back defensively, an automated response to insults, "I am fantastic at reading other people thank you very much!"

Maka put up a hand to giggle behind as she retorted back jovially, "I didn't mean other people, idiot. I meant outside of your head. Have you tried listening to what your heart is saying?" The teen gave her a blank look; his face saying it all, 'why the hell would I do that?'

Sighing, she scooted over onto the cushion next to her companion and placed a small hand on his shoulder, "Have you thought about your problem being that you like Tsubaki, and that you miss her?"

He scoffed automatically, "Of course I like Tsubaki, we're partners after all."

Soul came up to the pair then and reached over Maka's shoulder to place a cup of tea into her palm. Blackstar watched the exchange carefully, watching naturally for too much touching between the two. He was still in Maka-Defense mode, whether he knew it or not. Soul pulled back his hand and quickly ran it through Maka's now wavy locks with a smile, "Looks good."

Maka smiled back gently and followed Soul with her eyes a moment before turning her attention back to him as her own partner disappeared into the kitchen, "What I'm saying is that you don't just like Tsubaki but that you-"

"Like how you like Soul?" he asked her abrubtly, but Maka - for once - wasn't startled or embarrassment by the statement. She just nodded at him and smiled, "I like Tsubaki." It was a statement to test the waters. Maka knew it was echoing in his head, and the full implications of the sentence were hitting him like a bag of bricks.

The scythe meister twisted her body so she was facing her friend, "There are different levels of like. I know you're not stupid enough to realize that," he went to make a comment but she quickly cut him off before she lost her train of thought. This was the perfect time to get her own answers, "Like how I like you like a brother, and Tsubaki like a sister. How we love each other like a family. You feel a special love for Tsubaki, the same way you love everyone else specially too, right?"

Blackstar rolled his eyes to the ceiling as he responded, "I wouldn't say I _liked_ Kid, let alone love him," - "Blackstar," Maka rebutted tersely. - "But I get what you mean. I care about you more than anyone else, well," he added, and looked killingly bashful that Maka's good tidings went out to the lucky weapon, "except Tsubaki, I guess." Suddenly the male jumped up and ruffled his hair vigorously, "_Ugh_, all these feeling things are making me feel crazy! Why do feelings exist, this shit sucks!"

She couldn't help herself and burst out into laughter, almost spilling her tea into her lap. Wiping away a tear, she looked upon her friend, suddenly back to his normal, tough and brazen self, and gave a hefty joking sigh, "And here I was thinking you might get some character development. I feel jipped."

He responded in kind with a lopsided smirk, "Nah, thanks Maka. You helped me figure some things out. I feel back to normal now."

"I know," she stressed, "That's what I was hoping you'd get away from."

"What?!" he gasped, "You don't love the Great Me just as I am?!" He mockingly put a hand to his heart and gave her a surprised look, "I am offended. You have offended the Great One. _Do you know what that means?!_"

She had an idea, and Maka squealed in fright as she hurried to put her glass down and get some form of distance between her and her childhood friend before he pounced. She was almost to her bedroom door when she felt his arm wrap itself around her shoulders and her back was pressed hard against his chest and he pinned her and proceeded to give the girl the most intense noogie she'd ever had the misfortune to have inflicted upon her. After she was free and fixing up the bird's nest he'd made in her hair, Blackstar stood in the doorway of the bathroom with an easy smile on his face.

"I'm glad we're on the same page, Maka," he told her, suddenly low toned and serious, "Sometimes I know I'm being over the top, and that I'm annoying. I just don't care with most people, but I don't want you and I to stop being friends." He flashed a brilliant smile that warmed Maka's heart, "You said it best, we're family. That is the best thing you could have said."

Moving away from the door, he lifted his hand to wave, "I'm going to head out and hopefully catch Tsubaki on her way home. See you, Sis."

Her already warm heart swelled at the word, "Later," her lips quirked into a smile as she added herself, "Bro."

Maybe it wasn't a matter of gender in terms of attachment. Gender was important to each individual, but there were so many other factors to incorporate, and Maka had hung herself up on the idea that it had all been because she was a girl that she cared for Blackstar more. But it wasn't that. Friendships were complicated in their simplicity. All you had to do is be there; if you were first, you waited and held out your hand for when the other finally reached you. But if you were last, you took that waiting hand with the warmest of hearts because there is nothing like the feeling of knowing someone cares, knowing someone will wait for you.

Maka had been waiting with her hand out for so long that she'd begun to fear that Blackstar had altogether stopped climbing. It was a comfort more than words could say to finally have his hand clasped in hers; their hearts connected in ways blood never could.

**. . . . . .**

Light Note: Whew! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, it is by far one of my favorites. I know Blackstar is very out of character in this, but I wanted to show his more fragile side, because even the Great Blackstar has one. It was nice to have Maka comforting him for once, because sibling love goes both ways. As always, review and let me know what you thought. Thank you.

Ophiali


	20. Chapter 20

Soul Eater: Family  
Soul Eater and respective characters (c) Atsushi Okubo

All rights reserved.

Light Note: Special thanks to **DebbieKun3** for the final prompt. You didn't know it, but it really was the perfect prompt for the final story.

This will be the final chapter of Family! I want to thank every single one of you who reviewed, favorited, and watched this story. It was really just a cute idea in the back of my head and somehow turned into this! Every review I got brightened my day and made me smile. I'm sorry it took so long to get to this point, but for those that stuck with me, this is for you. In all actuality, it really is for you. I love you all!

**. . . . . .**

Blackstar didn't want to boast about his ability to read people. Okay, to be honest he did. This is Blackstar for God's sake, of course he wants to brag about anything he's amazing at. Still, the point was that he could read people, so let's skip past the theatrics and get down to the meat of the situation which was...

"What are you hiding?" the ninja asked the petite scythe meister, narrowing his eyes as she flinched and glanced away before turning back to answer with a forced nothing. He felt bad for the girl; Maka didn't have a lying face.

Everyone else had been a little harder to figure out. Tsubaki would disappear without a word to him and managed to elude him when he attempted to follow. Liz and Patty would just shoot at him and call him names before escaping and Soul flat out ignored him and trying to get anything out of Kid was like trying to beat a statue in a staring contest. Not even messing up the symmetry of the things around him made him break on this.

He had to had it to them. Whatever it was they were trying so hard to keep secret, they were doing quite well. However, they'd forgotten their one and biggest weak link; Maka Albarn.

The girl was far to open, far too honest with all her emotions. Heart on her sleeve, Blackstar never had much difficulty deciphering her thoughts. This wasn't a hard task to accomplish for him. All he had to do was get her alone and give a little pressure.

"Come on Maka," the blue haired boy stressed, leaning forward so he could push his face into her personal space, "There's something you're not telling me. It's written all over your face!"

As if it really was, Maka defensively put a hand over her face while she feigned annoyance. The reality was that he had her looking for an escape route from the conversation and he wasn't going to give it to her, "Blackstar, I am not hiding anything. I wish you would stop bothering me about it already. There's nothing to tell."

_Yeah right_, he thought and pursed his lips as they turned a corner. He hadn't been paying attention to their surroundings, but at the change in course he lifted his eyes to survey the area quickly and noted they were heading towards the gymnasium. What was Maka doing in this part of the school?

Shrugging it off, he turned his attention back to the matter at hand, "Then why do you look so guilty?"

"I don't look guilty. You're face is just making me physically ill," Maka retorted coldly and he feigned a pained look.

"Right to the heart! How can you speak that way to the man who will be greater than God?!" he countered loudly as he trailed behind her for a moment to lose himself in his antics. Maka continued walking without a backwards glance and he paused a moment to watch her shoulders tense before he jogged to catch up.

Maka shifted her gaze to the side when he fell into step behind her, "We'll talk once you've actually beaten Kid in a fight." Blackstar blinked at the stab. Ouch, she was out for blood today. With a smirk, he saw the game she was playing at. She was using her anger to cover up her discomfort at his questions.

Ah, this girl wasn't so bad at lying after all, but he'd already seen right through her ploys.

The blond stopped and turned on her heel to give him a heated stare, "Do you really have to follow me? I've been trying to lose you all day and you just don't give up!"

"What can I say? Curiosity makes people do crazy things," Blackstar smirked. That's right, get under her skin and pretty soon she'd be dying to tell him just to get him to go away.

Blowing out a sigh that moved her bangs slightly, Maka shook her head and made a U-turn, starting back up the hallway and away from the gym, "If that's the case, then I'm going to study. If you don't plan on leaving me alone, I can at least do something productive."

He consented to silence as he followed her through the school down to the library, where he was forced to using staring obnoxiously at her as his tactic of annoyance. She was resilient, he'd give her that, but Blackstar was far more stubborn than she, and he wasn't giving up without a fight.

At one point he saw Kid passing by with Liz, heads bent and talking in hushed tones. He didn't care enough to get up and pester them. That would only serve to give Maka a chance to escape from his sight and then he'd have to waste time to track her down again. Her ability as Soul Perception had led to her avoidance so far, but he'd manage to trick her by waiting outside the classroom. He knew she wouldn't skip class just to get away from him.

Thus she was now stuck with him until she spilled the beans. Though by the distracted look on her face as she poured over her book, he didn't think that'd be any time soon. He sighed in frustration. The one bad thing about this situation was that his attention span was reaching it's end. Sooner or later he was going to get bored without getting a hint from anyone.

At a quarter to seven, she finally lifted her head, grimacing obviously when he was still sitting across from her. He was bored beyond any means that he'd ever faced before, but still pushed to his feet and followed after her like a tired puppy that spent too much energy playing at the park and just wanted to be carried home.

"Will you tell me now?" Blackstar tried, though he already knew she was getting used to it. His moment had passed and now it was just wearing both of them thin, "I think after all I've gone through I should get to know. You can't keep secrets from the great Blackstar, it's not cool."

Maka laughed at that, and he perked up a bit at the sound, "I think Soul is rubbing off on you if you care about whether or not it's cool."

"Soul and I are bros. You wouldn't understand the bond of bros," the ninja meister said as he crossed his arms and followed her out of the school and down the streets. Her shoulders were still tense though, and she kept glancing behind her to make sure he was still there.

Well now... There was his curiosity again, rearing its head around for a second round of 'what the hell are they planning.'

She was heading home, he could tell by the steady pace she kept. If she was rushing to get there, it didn't show. He crossed his arms and stayed behind her as they remained silent for the last few meters until Maka and Soul's apartment came into view.

Soul was leaning on the railing of the balcony at their approach and gave Blackstar a lazy wave, calling down to them at the same time, "Tsubaki is here, want to stay for dinner?"

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Maka agreed, almost a little too quickly. Narrowing his eyes again at the pair, he shrugged, "We can play board games too."

As they headed up the stairs, Blackstar began to feel anxious. What was so important that Maka and the others had felt the need to hide it from him? He really wanted to know; he could feel the taste of curiosity coating his throat and attempted to swallow past it as his eyes trained themselves on Maka's fidgeting form.

"Say, Blackstar," the girl began as she pulled them to a stop in front of her door, "Do you remember what today is?"

He gave her a quizzical look as his reply, and she turned around to smile at him, showing off Maka's true strength; that unabashed kindness that made her a greater person that he could ever hope to be. Without a word more, Maka turned the handle and opened the door.

Loud pops and streamers attacked his face, and Blackstar smacked them out of the way to see who the perpetrators were; Soul and Spirit standing just inside the doorway with those bottle poppers, grinning like idiots. Tsubaki wasn't far behind them, next to Marie and Stein. Kid, Liz and Patty were nearby as well, the trio huddled together like always. Kim, Jacqueline, Ox, Harvard and even Kilik were all present, mingling around Maka's living room with smiles on their faces.

The ninja turned to glance at his friend, "What's all this about?"

Instead of answering she pushed him through the doorway, letting him see the final piece of the scene. Above the entrance to the kitchen there was large banner. The words were made of multi colored marker, each letter looking as if different individuals all wrote it together; oddly shaped and mismatched together to form something whole.

And that's when it hit him. The clutter that was lodged in his brain dislocated and it was all too clear. He felt the rumble of laughter course its way through his chest at the irony of the situation; this had to have been Maka's idea, no doubt about it.

Fifteen years ago today, his entire clan was wiped out.

Blond hair flashed past his vision, and he reached out instinctively to wrap an arm around Maka's neck, his free hand mussing up her hair despite her weak protests and attempts to escape, "I can't believe you!"

She freed herself with a deftly placed elbow to his ribs, but he could see that she was grinning and knew he wasn't really in any trouble. Soul was suddenly by his side and the two embraced in one of their manly hugs. Sid ruffled his hair from behind him. He was suddenly engulfed in a sea of faces; an ocean of love.

Fifteen years ago today, he was given a new family.

"Happy birthday Blackstar," everyone chorused loudly, voicing the words on the banner.

And he couldn't have been happier.

_**Owari.**_


End file.
